Canadian Premiere
Thirty years after a racially motivated arson kills five immigrants in Germany, a filmmaker decides to reenact a staged version of the incident and its aftermath for his latest project. However, when a burned Quran is found on set, tensions rise between the filmmaker and the refugees recruited as extras for the shoot. As the conflict escalates, with recriminations flying back and forth, a young assistant, Elif (Devrim Lingnau), finds herself drawn into an ever-widening web of paranoia and conspiracy.
Written and directed by Mehmet Akif Büyükatalay, Hysteria is a sinuous, superbly plotted mystery-thriller, replete with unexpected twists. A pitch-perfect study of the dynamics of social power, it uses its film-within-a-film conceit to reflect on its own position within the larger film festival ecosystem. “They make films just so Europe can have a clean conscience,” one of the extras remarks about the project’s director. Whatever else it may be, this genre-bending effort will challenge any such expectations.
Community Partner
Devrim Lingnau, Mehdi Meskar, Serkan Kaya, Nicolette Krebitz, Aziz Çapkurt, Nazmi Kırık
Germany
2025
In German, Turkish, Kurdish, Arabic and English with English subtitles
Book Tickets
Credits & Director
Producer
Mehmet Akif Büyükatalay, Claus Herzog-Reichel
Screenwriter
Mehmet Akif Büyükatalay
Cinematography
Christian Kochmann
Editor
Denys Darahan, Andreas Menn
Production Design
Mayte Hellenthal
Original Music
Marvin Miller
Mehmet Akif Büyükatalay
Mehmet Akif Büyükatalay, born 1987, is a filmmaker and producer who graduated from the Academy of Media Arts Cologne. His directorial debut Oray garnered international acclaim and won the prestigious Best First Feature Award at the 2019 Berlinale. In 2020, he co-founded filmfaust GmbH with producer Claus Herzog-Reichel, a company that has since established itself as a creative force in European cinema, producing award-winning features and documentaries. Notable productions include Cem Kaya’s Love, Deutschmarks and Death (2022) and Sirens Call (2025) by directing-duo Miri Ian Gossing and Lina Sieckmann.
Filmography: Oray (2019)
Photo by Marcus Höhn
Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre
Round Midnight: Ardeshir Plays Dexter Gordon
Loosely based on Bud Powell's time in Paris, Round Midnight (131 mins) is maybe the greatest of all films about jazz thanks to the towering performance of real-life jazz great Dexter Gordon. Saxophonist Ardeshir channels Gordon's vibe in his live set.
Montreal, ma belle
In this Valentine to discovering love later in life, the ever-elegant Joan Chen plays Feng Xia, a 53-year-old Chinese immigrant and mother in Montreal whose world is turned upside down when she meets and falls in love with a young Quebecoise.
Sirât
A desperate father (Sergi Lopez) searchers for his missing daughter through the spiritual wasteland of the Moroccan desert. An unforgettable sensory powerhouse, Sîrat will have you riveted and rattled for hours after the end credits have rolled.
Mr. Nobody Against Putin
Nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary, and Special Jury Prize Winner, Sundance, 2025, this exposé shot by a Russian primary teacher shows how the Putin propaganda machine works to militarize children.