Elbow (film)

Elbow (Ellbogen) is a 2024 coming-of-age drama film co-written and directed by Aslı Özarslan in her directorial debut. The film an adaptation of Franz-Hessel-Preis and Klaus-Michael Kühne prize winner German novel Ellbogen by Fatma Aydemir is a story of 17-years old Hazal, who lives in Berlin. Her biggest wish for her 18th birthday is to escape the everyday grind and party with her friends. But a fatal incident changes everything and she is forced to flee.

The international co-production between Germany, Turkey and France was selected in the Generation 14plus section at the 74th Berlin International Film Festival, where it had its World premiere on 17 February and competed for Crystal Bear for the Best Film. Aslı Özarslan, the first feature director was nominated for GWFF Best First Feature Award in the festival.

Synopsis
The film tells the story of many young people who are pushed to the sidelines and yet want to belong.

17-years old Hazal lives in Berlin. She wants a chance in life. Her fervent wish is to get one step further than her parents. She failed to get response to her hundreds of applications. On her 18th birthday she wants to forget humdrum of his life and wants to party with her best friends. But everything turns out differently, a fatal incident, and she flees alone to unknown city Istanbul. Now she is on her own.

Cast

 * Melia Kara as Hazal
 * Asya Utku as Gül
 * Jamilah Bagdach as Elma
 * Nurgül Ayduran as Ebru
 * Doğa Gürer as Mehmet
 * Mina Özlem Sagdic as Semra
 * Jale Arıkan as Sultan
 * Ali-Emre Sahin as Onur
 * Ercan Karacayli as Salih
 * Idil Baydar (Gilet Ayse) as Ms. Göktan
 * Shadi Eck as Mahdi
 * Halil as Haydar Sahin
 * Ömer Kuzu as Orhan Kiliç
 * Katrine Eichberger as Ms. Meyer
 * Jörg Pintsch as Lars Immer/shop detective
 * Denis Riffel as Thorsten
 * Berk Torun as Eren

Production
Principal photography began on 15 August 2022 in Istanbul and Berlin. Filming ended on 15 October 2022 with filming locations in the regions of Berlin and Turkey.

Release
Elbow had its World premiere on 17 February 2024, as part of the 74th Berlin International Film Festival, in Generation 14plus.

Reception
Vladan Petkovic reviewing the film at Berlinale for Cineuropa wrote, "Özarslan's coming-of-age film set in the Berlin immigrant community and Istanbul stands out for its storytelling economy, unusually dark atmosphere, and thematic variety and depth."

Accolades
The film was selected in Generation 14plus at the 74th Berlin International Film Festival, thus it was nominated to compete for Crystal Bear.