Mehmet Akif Büyükatalay wraps production on his second feature, Hysteria
by Teresa Vena
- After his award-winning directorial debut, Oray, the German-Turkish filmmaker presents an intriguing story toplined by The Empress star Devrim Lingnau
German-Turkish director Mehmet Akif Büyükatalay has completed production on his second feature film, Hysteria [+see also:
film review
interview: Devrim Lingnau
interview: Mehmet Akif Büyükatalay
film profile]. In 2019, the helmer debuted with his first feature-length effort, Oray [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Mehmet Akif Büyükatalay
film profile], in the Perspektive Deutsches Kino section of the Berlinale, where it received the Best First Feature Award. He has not only directed his new effort, but also devised the narrative and served as producer.
The project is being staged by his production company, Filmfaust, which he founded in Cologne in 2020 together with fellow producer Claus Reichel. The firm has lately been particularly successful with the release of the documentary Love, Deutschmarks and Death [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Cem Kaya
film profile] by Cem Kaya. The film celebrated its premiere at the Berlinale in 2022, where it won the Audience Award in the Panorama section, and subsequently embarked on a fruitful global festival run.
Hysteria is a thriller-drama, the action of which takes place on a film set. Things spiral out of control when a Quran is burned on set, but the records of the event mysteriously disappear. The assistant director is then drawn into a convoluted scenario, seeking clarifications as to what actually happened. The different people working on set, such as the producer of the film, its director and some of the actors, who come from a home for refugees, all have their own perspective on what happened.
Starring in the role of assistant director Elif is German actress Devrim Lingnau (Auerhaus [+see also:
trailer
film profile]), who can currently be seen playing the main character of Sisi in Netflix’s historical series The Empress. In Hysteria, she is supported by actress-director Nicolette Krebitz (A E I O U - A Quick Alphabet of Love [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Nicolette Krebitz
film profile], Wild [+see also:
trailer
film profile]) in the role of the producer, Serkan Kaya (Planet Ottakring [+see also:
trailer
film profile]) as the director, plus Mehdi Meskar (Prophets [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], Samad), Nazmi Kirik (Rabiye Kurnaz vs. George W. Bush [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Andreas Dresen
interview: Meltem Kaptan
film profile]) and Aziz Capkurt (In the Blind Spot [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ayşe Polat
film profile], Whispers of War [+see also:
film review
interview: Florian Hoffmann
film profile]), who play three of the extras on set.
Hysteria is now in post-production. Shooting ended earlier this summer after taking place over the course of 35 days in Rüsselheim, Cologne and Hürth, cities located in the regions of Hesse and North Rhine-Westphalia. It was also the film funding from these two regions that supported the movie financially. The feature is a co-production between Filmfaust and ZDF/Das kleine Fernsehspiel. Film- und Medienstiftung NRW, HessenFilm, the FFA and the DFFF have provided funding.
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