Elaha

Elaha is a 2023 German drama film that marks the feature-length directing debut of Milena Aboyan, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Constantin Hatz. Produced by Kinescope Film, it had its world premiere in February 2023 in the Perspektive Deutsches Kino section of the 73rd Berlin International Film Festival and was nominated for the German Film Award, including for best feature film.

The film follows Elaha, a 22-year-old Kurdish-German woman who believes she must restore her supposed innocence before her upcoming wedding. Unable to afford the surgery that would reconstruct her hymen, she considers alternatives such as a capsule containing artificial blood, while beginning to question why and for whom she has to be a virgin. Bayan Layla plays the lead, with Derya Durmaz, Nazmi Kırık and Armin Wahedi also in the cast.