Dancing With Monica
An unflinching insight into a life spent in prostitution
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Anja Dalhoff: Director
Anja Dalhoff is an award-winning director, photographer, and producer. She has produced and directed documentaries, series, and educational films focusing on themes of organ donation, human trafficking, and integration. She has won two Robert prizes, one of which was the best documentary award for her 1992 film High Hope. She also won the European Women’s Prize in 2009. Many of her films have been used as educational materials and some have been backed by government ministries, such as the 2008 Natasha is Not For Sale, supported by the Moldovan Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
On a hot summer day in May 2010, I was so lucky to meet the Colombian woman Monica, who had just fled from a brothel in Copenhagen, where she had been beaten and abused. Despite the trauma she had experienced, she was eager to participate in a documentary film. It turned out that she had filmed for the last 25 years and she wanted to share these footage with me. It was a unique moment when she gave me the 22 video tapes that she had recorded as a kind of video diary of her life. That day was the start of a 7 year long collaboration, which I will never forget.