Ellbogen

Hazal’s greatest wish is to have a life. In spite of many applications, she isn’t invited to a single job interview. Instead, she is stuck in a Job Centre training program that fails to open up any new opportunities for her. But on her 18th birthday, Hazal feels powerful. It is like the old days when she and her friends believed they could achieve anything as long as they stuck together. It’s only when they’re queueing to get into a hip club that Hazal feels they don’t belong there. And she’s right. The bouncer refuses to let them in. On their way home, they’re verbally abused by an arrogant student. The situation escalates, Hazal’s frustration about all the rejections erupts into a fatal act. Hazal flees headlong to Istanbul, a strange city in a country unknown to her. There, she has to survive on her own, no matter what the cost. Ellbogen tells the story of a young woman who is pushed out of society and has to reset the course of her life. We want to run through the night with her; we want to know what happens next – for her, and for us all. (Berlinale)