Elaha

A Film by Milena Aboyan

The 22-year-old German-Kurdish woman Elaha (Bayan Layla) is about to get married. She is engaged to Nasim, the brother of her employer at a cleaning service. The wedding is scheduled to take place in a few weeks. At a party, while secretly smoking with her friends, the topic arises of what is expected of many young women in her community: they are expected to enter marriage as virgins. Some future in-laws even demand a medical certificate as proof. However, Elaha has already had sex and now faces a dilemma. To have her hymen surgically reconstructed, she would need money that she doesn’t have. Small capsules with artificial blood are said to help fake virginity – but will they work? Elaha starts to question the rules: Why and for whom does she actually need to be a virgin?

Elaha had its Premiere at the 73. Berlinale ⁽²⁰²³⁾ in the Section "Perspektive deutsches Kino".

Elaha had its start in German Cinema on Nov 23 2023.

Awards and Nominations

Awards:

- Nominierung deutscher Filmpreis 2024: Bester Film, Beste weibliche Hauptrolle
- Caligari Preis des Fördervereins der Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg
- Thomas Strittmatter Preis (Nominierung)
- Kaiju Cinema Diffusion Prize, Locarno Film Festival
- Publikumspreis Langfilm, Lichter Filmfest Frankfurt
- Norderneyer Engel, NDR-Filmpreis für den Nachwuchs und DGB Filmpreis 33. Internationales Filmfest Emden
- New Faces Award / Beste Nachwuchsschauspielerin, Bester Debütfilm
- Heimat Europa Filmfestspiele EDGAR Preis für besten modernen Heimatfilm, Publikumspreis (Nominiert)
- Prix Europa 2023
- First Steps, GötzGeorge-Nachwuchspreis (Bayan Layla)
- Bayerischer Filmpreis; Beste Nachwuchsschauspielerin (Bayan Layla)
- Si-Star-Filmpreis; Berlinale 2024

Festivals

- 75. LOCARNO FILM FESTIVAL, FIRST LOOK
- 73. INTERNATIONALE FILMFESTSPIELE BERLIN, PERSPEKTIVE DEUTSCHES KINO
‍- LICHTER FILMFEST FRANKFURT INTERNATIONAL, ZUKUNFT DEUTSCHER FILM (19.4.2023, 22 UHR)
- SEHSÜCHTE INTERNATIONAL STUDENT FILM FESTIVAL (22.4.2023, 16 UHR)
- CROSSING EUROPE FILMFESTIVAL LINZ, YAAAS!
COMPETITION (28.4.2023, 10.15 UHR)
- FILMFEST EMDEN NORDERNEY 2023
- KURDISCHE FILMTAGE LEIPZIG 2023
- FÜNF SEEN FESTIVAL 2023
- PRIX EUROPA 2023
- LES ARCS FILM FESTIVAL 2023
- LE FESTIVAL INTERNATIONAL DU FILM POLITIQUE DE CARCASSONNE 2024
- FESTIVAL PREMIERS PLANS D'ANGERS 2024