My Mona addresses the male voyeuristic gaze and is therefore also a personal reappraisal of Telscher’s relationship with women. The film begins with a portrait of a woman looking into the camera, accompanied by a lyrical text, the last sentence of which serves as the motto for the network of images that follows: “I myself am heaven and hell for you.” This is followed by Telscher’s image of “his” Mona seated in front of a waterfall, initially in a similar cadrage to Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, but then with a shot of her feet and later with a double exposure of a bouquet of roses in the background (a motif that reappears in the film In Rouge). On the one hand, Telscher is concerned with his personal image of “his” Mona (Lisa), and on the other with the many connotations and interpretations that have developed around Da Vinci’s masterpiece. In doing so, Telscher uses images and sound to dissect the male gaze and – as a kind of anticipated response to the current MeToo debate – asks men the question: You Too?!

• Programm Programme: From the Old World (curated by Ralf Sausmikat)