Press release
On Real Fake Twins: Kerstin Honeit Uses Film to Explore the Contemporary Politics and Technologies of Anti-Democratic Doublings
In her inaugural lecture on the 16th of November 2026, Honeit traces various forms of ideological attempts to rewrite history through "doubles" – from the Berlin City Palace to the most recent geographical renamings in the map services of US tech companies.
A reconstructed castle as a controversial doppelgänger. A personal experience of twinhood as the starting point for a new work. Both form part of the artistic research of Berlin-based filmmaker Kerstin Honeit, who was appointed Professor of Moving Image at the University of Applied Sciences Potsdam (FHP) with effect from the 1st of September 2026.
Honeit had already portrayed the palace back in 2017: her short film “my castle your castle” is a critical examination of the reconstruction of the Berlin City Palace. Ten years later, in her latest, as yet unpublished work, she once again explores architecture that shapes identity and uncovers surprising parallels across different political systems.
Honeit will demonstrate how these works come about in her inaugural lecture at the FHP on 16 November. The central theme is the book “Doppelganger: A Trip into the Mirror World” (2023) by the author and activist Naomi Klein. It deals with anti-democratic appropriations since the COVID-19 pandemic and how algorithmic technologies fuel the rise of autocracies.
Alongside excerpts from her films, including her new work, she reveals what would otherwise remain hidden: her extensive research material, reflections from the creative process and connections to current issues.
About the artist
Kerstin Honeit has been Professor of Moving Image in the joint degree programme in European Media Studies at the Potsdam University of Applied Sciences and the University of Potsdam since 2026. The Berlin-based artist works with experimental video and film formats. In her research-based works, she explores the possibilities of translating socio-political issues into resistant aesthetics and counter-narratives. In doing so, she addresses themes such as voice and dubbing, poverty and class, as well as queer perspectives.
Her works have been exhibited internationally, including at the Whitechapel Gallery in London, the Off Biennale in Cairo, the São Paulo International Short Film Festival, and on several occasions in the German Competition at the Oberhausen Short Film Festival. Honeit studied sculpture and set design at the Berlin-Weißensee School of Art, where she was a master’s student. Since 2014, she has taught at various art colleges, including the HBK Braunschweig and the Kassel Art Academy.
Date
Inaugural lecture by Prof. Kerstin Honeit: ‘On Real False Twins – Insights into Artistic Research in Times of Duplication’
Monday 16/11/2026 at 6.00 pm
University of Applied Sciences Potsdam, at the Casino in Building, C17, Kiepenheuerallee 5, 14469 Potsdam
The lecture is open to the public. Members of the media are warmly invited.
