Germany (2024) 86 min. DCP Projection. German/English/Turkish with English Subtitles Director Aslı Özarslan Screenplay Claudia Schaefer and Aslı Özarslan, Based on the novel "Ellbogen" by Fatma Aydemir Cinematographer Andaç Karabeyoğlu-Thomas Cast Melia Kara, Jamilah Bagdach, Asya Utku, Nurgül Ayduran, Jale Arikan, Mina Özlem Sağdiç,
Doğa Gürer, Ercan Karaçayli Producer Jamila Wenske Co-producers Delphine Schmit, Guillaume Dreyfus, Anna Maria Aslanoğlu, Julia Irene Peters, Jutta Feit Production Company Achtung Panda! Co-production Company Tripode Productions, Istos Film, JIP Film und Verleih, ZDF (Das kleine Fernsehspiel)
17-year-old Hazal is a Turkish-German teen living in Berlin. Her biggest dream: to be given a chance at a future outside of her parents' bakery. Despite her best efforts to find an apprenticeship, her mediocre grades and numerous rejected applications leave her with few options. For her 18th birthday she wants to escape the everyday grind and hit the clubs with her friends. But the night’s celebration is cut short after the girls are turned away by a bouncer at a dance club. When the teens are harassed in the subway on their way home, the situation escalates and Hazal’s frustration about her rejections erupts into a fatal incident. Forced to flee to Turkey, a country she hardly knows, Hazal must survive at all costs. Based on the award-winning-novel "Ellbogen" by Fatma Aydemir, Özarslan’s debut feature is a skillfully crafted and intense portrait of a young woman struggling to hold her ground in a society that seems to cast her aside.
FESTIVALS, AWARDS & NOMINATIONS: Hessischer Film- und Kinopreis 2024 Frankfurter Buchmesse Award - Best Adaption Goldener Spatz 2024 Audience Award, Best Youth Film Internationales Frauen FF Dortmund+Köln 2024 Best Debut Director, Best Debut Feature Lichter Filmfest 2024 Best Regional Feature
