Monika (German: Eine Mutter kämpft um ihr Kind, lit. 'A Mother Fights for Her Child') is a 1938 German melodrama film directed and written by Heinz Helbig. The story centers on a singer who relinquishes her illegitimate daughter to a German engineer in São Paulo to pursue her career, only to return eight years later as a celebrated film star and wife of a prominent surgeon, demanding custody after encountering the child on a film set.

Dr. Ivar Andersson, introduced by his colleague, Sigrid Mall, is the new German teacher for the underclassmen in a girl’s high school. As is to be expected, there’s soon a whole swarm of girls vying for his attention, but none as much as Kerstin Dahlberg, who lives with her Aunt Betty. Andersson is more than aware of the girl’s feelings for him and it pains his conscience to discover, he’s as hot for her as she is for him. He tells Sigrid about the situation, who strongly recommends separation, but Andersson rejects this as desertion.