The 4th Twin Cities German Film Festival is presented by the Germanic-American Institute in collaboration with the Goethe-Institut.
Ellbogen is a raw and compelling coming-of-age story about Hazal, a 17-year-old Berliner on the cusp of adulthood, yearning for a life beyond the confines of job center training and closed doors. On her 18th birthday, a night of celebration with friends turns into a moment of reckoning after a violent confrontation shatters the illusion of belonging. Forced to flee to Istanbul, the film follows Hazal’s fight for recognition, equality, and a future of her own making. Adapted from Fatma Aydemir’s award-winning novel, Asli Özarslan’s powerful debut is a gripping portrait of a young woman on the run, awake to the tensions of multicultural Berlin and unafraid to confront uncomfortable truths about identity, justice, and belonging.