HYSTERIA

GERMANY | 2025 | COLOR | DCP | 104’ | GERMAN, TURKISH, KURDISH, ARABIC, ENGLISH

Elif, an ambitious trainee producer, has taken on the role of an assistant on a drama about racist attacks against Turkish immigrants that claimed lives in Solingen, Germany, in 1993. When a Koran is burned on set and all incriminating evidence of the act mysteriously disappears, it immediately triggers a series of escalating reactions that draw Elif into the vortex of a dangerous conspiracy, where every member of the crew seems to have their own selfish motives. An up-and-coming director masterfully manipulates the mechanisms of the thriller and unleashes “Hysteria,” a thrilling whodunnit that transforms the behind-the-scenes of a film into a minefield of social confrontation, racial tensions and fierce ideological conflicts, constantly subverting the viewer's expectations and masterfully leading to an explosive finale. Th.K.

DIRECTOR: Mehmet Akif Büyükatalay
SCREENWRITER: Mehmet Akif Büyükatalay
DoP: Christian Kochmann
MUSIC: Marvin Miller
EDITORS: Denys Darahan, Andreas Menn
PRINCIPAL CAST: Devrim Lingnau, Mehdi Meskar, Serkan Kaya, Nicolette Krebitz, Aziz Çapkurt, Nazmi Kırık
 
MEHMET AKIF BÜYÜKATALAY
German filmmaker of Turkish descent, born in 1987 in Hesse, Germany. His first film, “Oray”, won him the Best First Feature Award at the Berlin Film Festival.
 
FILMOGRAPHY
2025 Hysteria 
2019 Oray