In Cinemas from April 26th

 Book tickets from the links below.

A German-Kurdish woman has to decide whether to cover up the fact that she is no longer a virgin ahead of her wedding in this poignant exploration of cultural pressure and self-determination.

Elaha (Bayan Layla) faces a dilemma just weeks away from her wedding to Nasim (Armin Wahedi) in Milena Aboyan’s tense and poignant drama. Elaha has to decide whether to try to cover up the fact that she is no longer a virgin – a state of ‘honour’ considered essential by her German-Kurdish community and, more specifically, by her strict mother (Derya Durmaz). Aboyan carefully explores the cultural ties that bind Elaha, as the young woman embarks on a journey of self-discovery.

Milena Aboyan was born a Yazidi Kurd in Armenia in 1992. In 2010 she began a four-year acting training program in Germany. During the program, she played parts in several theatrical productions. After receiving her acting degree, she changed disciplines and began to focus on writing.

She started working as an assistant dramatic advisor for an early-evening ARD series. In 2015, she began studying screenwriting at the Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg. In 2019 she won the Emden Screenplay Award.

ELAHA is her final film at the Filmakademie. It was already awarded the “Kaiju Cinema Diffusion Prize” at the Locarno Film Festival.

Director’s Filmography:

DIE VERTREIBUNG DER ELEFANTEN (2016, short film, screenplay)
SONNE SCHEINT ÜBER AUGUST (2017, short film, screenplay)
WAS BLEIBT (2018, short film, screenplay, Atelier Ludwigsburg-Paris)
DER GRETELTRICK (2018 short film, screenplay and director)
ELAHA (2023 feature film, screenplay and director)