Hysteria

Followed by a talk with Mehmet Akif Büyükatalay (18.10.)


The set of a drama about the 1993 Solingen arson attack, a real-life racist incident that killed five members of a Turkish family. Behind-the-scenes, the production starts to unravel under the weight of its own ambitions. When a burned Quran is discovered among the props the day's footage mysteriously vanishes and accusations start to fly.

At the center of the storm is Elif, the second assistant director, whose ambition clashes with her growing unease. As she scrambles to recover the lost tapes and salvage her career, she navigates a minefield of moral compromises, institutional hypocrisy, and hidden agendas. While the director claims political provocation as his right, the producer prioritizes profit over principles. Meanwhile, the predominantly Muslim film extras challenge the production’s exploitative gaze, questioning who such stories truly serve.

Hysteria is a razor-sharp blend of genre suspense and scorching social critique. Büyükatalay crafts a rip-roaring thriller that exposes the layers of racism, opportunism, and performative wokeness in the film industry, and beyond. (BH)

Mehmet Akif Büyükatalay is a German-Turkish film director and screenwriter and a founding member of the film production company filmfaust.