COMPETITION

Elaha

Milena Aboyan
2023 - Germany - 1h50

Screenings : monday 22 - 9:45 pm - Centre de congrès - Auditorium - presented by the film director tuesday 23 - 1:45 pm - Grand Théâtre - followed by a debate with the film director

Elaha, a 22-year-old woman of Kurdish origin, is desperate to undergo hymen reconstructing hoping to restore her innocence before her marriage. Despite her determination, doubts creep in. Why must she appear to be a virgin, and who for? As a dilemma seems inevitable, Elaha is torn between respect for her traditions and her desire for independence.

Milena Aboyan was born a Kurdish Yezidi in Armenia in 1992. In 2010, she began a four-year acting course in Germany. During this programme, she acted in several plays. After graduating, she switched disciplines and began to focus on writing. She worked as an assistant dramatist for an ARD series broadcast in the early evenings. In 2015, she studied screenwriting at the Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg and won the Emden Screenplay Prize in 2019. Elaha is her last film from the Filmakademie.

CAST AND CREW

Cast : Derya Dilber, Derya Durmaz, Homa Faghiri, Emre Kubat, Bayan Layla
Screenplay : Milena Aboyan
Cinematography : Christopher Behrmann
Editing : Elias Engelhardt
Music : Kilian Oser

Production : Kinescope Film

French distributor : Wayna Pitch