Elaha

It looks as if the future is all set for 22-year-old German-Kurdish Elaha. She is engaged to Nasim, the brother of her employer at a dry cleaner's, and their wedding is due to take place in a few weeks' time. When Elaha slips away to smoke with her friends at a party, the talk turns to the topic of how many young women in their culture are expected to enter marriage as virgins. Some future in-laws even demand medical proof from a doctor. Elaha has already had sex and so this poses a problem: to have her hymen surgically reconstructed requires money which she does not have. Small capsules of fake blood can supposedly help to feign an intact maidenhead – but will it work? Elaha begins to question the rules: why does she have to be a virgin anyway, and for whom?

Performed with great commitment, Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg graduate Milena Aboyan's film revolves around a topic that is as personal as it is universal: sexual self-determination. Based on a nuanced screenplay, Aboyan illuminates all facets and stays very close to her complex and completely authentic protagonist.

Source: 73. Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin (Catalogue)