Award for Elaha in Locarno

The eleventh edition of First Look, the Locarno Film Festival's initiative to showcase films in post-production, has awarded ELAHA the Kaiju Cinema Diffusion Prize worth 5,000 euros.
Awards

The film ELAHA is Milena Aboyan's graduation film at the Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg. The film was selected as one of six projects in post-production for the First Look section of the Locarno International Film Festival and presented in cooperation with German Films film buyers and festival officials.

An international jury consisting of Vanja Kaludjercic (International Film Festival Rotterdam), Tricia Tuttle (BFI London Film Festival) and HUH Moonyung (Busan International Film Festival) awarded a total of three prizes, including the Kaiju Cinema Diffusion Prize to ELAHA for the design of an international poster worth 5,000 euros.

In her film, director Milena Aboyan describes a young woman torn between sexual self-determination and the norms of her community: 22-year-old Elaha is no longer a virgin. So that no one finds out about her premarital sex, Elaha does everything she can to regain her virginity. ELAHA is Milena Aboyan's graduation film at the Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg. The film is a production of Kinescope Film in co-production with Essence Film, Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg, SWR and arte, funded by MFG Filmförderung Baden-Württemberg and nordmedia. The script, written by Milena Aboyan together with Constantin Hatz, was nominated for the Strittmatter Prize and the Schreibsüchte Prize of the Sehsüchte Film Festival in 2020.

Photo: German Films/Locarno Film Festival