Hysteria - 104 minutes

Shocking, racially motivated fires – arson – in Germany in 1993 resulted in the death of five Turks.

More than 30 years later, Mehmet Akif Buyukatalay’s clever satire Hysteria – the centrepiece of the German Film Festival – fans the flames of discontent.

Buyukatalay’s second film focuses on a movie being made about those real-life incidents by a Turkish/German filmmaker, Yigit (Serkan Kaya).

Yigit is crafting his picture, which involves recreating the attacks, with his renowned filmmaker and life partner Lilith (Nicolette Krebitz).

They have engaged Turkish extras from a German refugee camp.

Yigit pokes the bear by burning a Koran in the inferno and having the extras find it as part of his recreation, prompting their outrage.

Once the first day’s shoot is in the can, the young, ambitious, second assistant director Elif (Devrim Lingnau) drives the extras back to the refugee camp in a bus.

She does so because the driver, Majid (Nazmi Kirik), has gone missing.

Elif also has with her the cassettes from the shoot, which she is to drop off at Yigit and Lilith’s apartment, where she will also stay.

The problem is that along the way she loses the keys to get in and then makes out that she is Lilith to enable her to be let in.

Further, when Yigit and Lilith arrive home, the cassettes from the shoot have gone missing from the cupboard where Elif put them, sending Yigit into a spin.

Elif believes there is skulduggery afoot and, having set up a surveillance camera, takes refugee Said (Mehdi Meskar) into her confidence.

Accusations fly thick and fast, which sees a showdown, also involving another refugee involved in the shoot, Mustafa (Aziz Capkurt).

So, just who is pulling the strings here and why?

All are under suspicion and, arguably, all have a motive.

Mehmet Akif Buyukatalay has taken the fraught relationship between Germany and Turkey and tightened the screws.

As that suggests, the mayhem escalates as the narrative unfolds, hence Hysteria is a most appropriate title.

I greatly appreciated the additional twists that Buyukatalay continues to introduce, thereby heightening the tension.

It is a movie you need to stick with to get the most out of, the point of which is to shine a light on the maelstrom and discontent at the centre of it.

I felt my eyes were opened the longer I kept watching.

Hysteria has a naturalist feel to it, which is reflected in the strong performances of the cast, led with insular authenticity by Devrim Lingnau.

Handheld camera work and minimalised lighting – both smart devices – serve to highlight the subterfuge around which the narrative is built.  

As a creative and entertaining film about identity, ambition, power and control, as well as a reflection of German society today, it certainly provokes thought.

Hysteria is a film for discerning moviegoers and scores an 8 out of 10.

The German Film Festival will play in Canberra, Sydney, Melbourne, Ballarat, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth and Byron Bay between April 30th and May 28th, 2025.

There are different opening and closing dates across Australia, so for more information, the full program and to buy tickets, go to https://germanfilmfestival.com.au