ELAHA

Milena Aboyan’s debut feature centres on 22-year-old Elaha who is obsessively trying to recover a supposed innocence that she has lost through sex. A plastic surgeon is going to restore her so-called virginity, but she cannot come up with the money for the costly procedure. While looking for an alternative, she comes across a special product in the form of a capsule of artificial blood. This solution, however, forces her into self-exploitation. After some heavy setbacks, Elaha chooses her self-determined sexuality as a woman.

ELAHA was awarded the Kaiju Cinema Diffusion Prize as part of Locarno Film Festival’s First Look showcase of German works in progress.