Emin Alper – Director – Frenzy (Abluka)
FRED’s Matt Micucci interviews Emin Alper, director of the film FRENZY from the main competition of the 72nd Venice Film Festival.
Emin Alper talks with us about the inspiration for his story and also about the many influences that came into play all together to form the final feature film – FRENZY. He also talks about how he wanted the film to feel universal rather than rooted to one geographical location – in this case of course Turkey. On top of that, he talks about the way in which he worked with the cast and the challenges he encountered along the journey to getting the whole film together.
FRENZY (Abluka): Istanbul is in the grip of political violence. Hamza, a high-ranking police officer offers Kadir a conditional release from prison. To be released he has to accept to work in the new intelligence unit of garbage collectors. Kadir accepts, and starts collecting trash from the shanty towns, checking to see whether it contains material related to bomb-making. Kadir finds his younger brother Ahmet in one of those neighborhoods. Ahmet works at the municipality as part of a team responsible for destroying stray dogs. Ahmet’s unwillingness to bond with Kadir as brothers, in spite of Kadir’s insistance, leads Kadir to plot conspiracy theories to explain Ahmet’s distance.