“Hysteria”, interview with the director Mehmet Akif Büyükatalay

February 22, 2025

Mehmet Akif Büyükatalay, director. "Hysteria". A thriller about vulnerability and the fear of others. Powerful and realistic.

"Hysteria", interview with the director Mehmet Akif Büyükatalay Angelo Acerbi

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Director Mehmet Akif Büyükatalay brings to the Berlin International Film Festival his new feature film “Hysteria“, an intense thriller set within a film crew on the set, where an accident becomes a fuel for dangerous misunderstanding. We talk with the director on the various issue the film brings to surface, from vulnerability and the fear of strangers, to racism and xenofobia.The

Inspiration came from a series of xenophobic acts happened in Germany recently

“Hysteria” starts on a film set where a criminal arson is recreated for the shooting. This was a real fact happened in Germany as a violent gesture of xenophobia against immigrants, who were German citizens. Mehmet Akif Büyükatalay is deeply interested in this development of German society, as he explains in our talk.

The misinterpretation of religion and faith

Mehmet Akif Büyükatalay chose a simple and accidental fact ( burning a Quran in a reconstructed arson) as the element to explain and depict the enormous misconception fo religion through strict unconditional faith. Art should not be influenced by this misconception, but instead it is.

Plot

When a burned Quran is found on a film set, the shoot takes a dark turn and the crew are thrown into turmoil. Caught in the crossfire, an intern, Elif, is drawn into a dangerous game of secrets, accusations and lies. Mehmet Akif Büyükatalay’s ambiguous, provocative conspiracy thriller plays with the film-within-a-film motif and is rich in unexpected twists. A piercing reflection on the power of images and the dynamics of perception, projection and societal hysteria.

Written by: Angelo Acerbi

Guest

Mehmet Akif Büyükatalay

Film

Hysteria

Festival

Berlinale

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