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Stars: Billur Melis Koç, Ahmet Rifat Sungar, Baki Kaymaz, Yagizcan Konyah | Written by Emre Akay, Deniz Cuylan | Directed by Emre Akay

On paper Av: The Hunt sounds like yet another take on the theme of hunting humans, however co-writer/director Emre Akay’s film has a rather interesting concept up its sleeve, which elevates the typical story into something more interesting – a diatribe on the patriarchy and the vile idea of “honour killings”.

Av: The Hunt opens with a young couple making love when suddenly a cop barges in while the woman, Ayse, is in the shower. The police officer and Ayse’s lover struggle and he ends up dead at the hands of the cop. You see the dead man is Ayse lover, Not her husband. Feeling that her family and that of her husband have been disgraced by Ayse’s actions, all the men in her strict...

Stars: Billur Melis Koç, Ahmet Rifat Sungar, Baki Kaymaz, Yagizcan Konyah | Written by Emre Akay, Deniz Cuylan | Directed by Emre Akay

On paper Av The Hunt sounds like yet another take on the theme of hunting humans, however co-writer/director Emre Akay’s film has a rather interesting concept up its sleeve, which elevates the typical story into something more interesting – a diatribe on the patriarchy and the vile idea of “honour killings”.

Av The Hunt opens with a young couple making love when suddenly a cop barges in while the woman, Ayse, is in the shower. The police officer and Ayse’s lover struggle and he ends up dead at the hands of the cop. You see the dead man is Ayse lover, Not her husband. Feeling that her family and that of her husband have been disgraced by Ayse’s actions, all the men in her strict family...

Turkey has always been a country caught between different worlds, the same accident of geography that ensures its prosperity making it the focus of countless wars. At its simplest, this might be seen as a struggle between Christianity and Islam, but scratch the surface and you'll find a much more complex and deep rooted cultural battle. Despite the increasingly religious bent of its current government, it's easy to get the impression that life in its larger cities functions pretty much the same way as life in the West, and for many people, it does. In smaller places, however, a much older set of values holds sway - and as so often around the world, the conflicts between these value systems are acted out on the bodies of women.

Ayse (Billur Melis Koç) has a lover. They meet in secret in a mostly empty flat. Their passion for one another is clear.

FrightFest, the UK horror festival that was forced to move online this year because of pandemic disruption, has unveiled a lineup for its 21st edition (August 27-31) including seven world premieres.

The event opens with the UK premiere of Sky Sharks, which features Nazi zombie-piloted airborne killer sharks.

World premieres include Logan Thomas’s There’s No Such Thing As Vampires, Patrick Rea’s I Am Lisa, Ruben Pla’s The Horror Crowd, G-Hey Kim’s Don’t Click, Toby Watts’ Playhouse, Airell Anthony Hayles and Sam Casserly’s They’re Outside, and Francesco Giannini’s Hall.

Industry-focused events will include a panel hosted by Den Of Geek’s UK editor Rosie Fletcher about how the horror genre has been affected by the pandemic.

All online film screenings will be geo-locked to UK audiences and available through FrightFest’s website.

“We will desperately miss seeing all of you in person...

Celebrating its world premiere at this year's Neuchâtel International Film Festival is writer/director Emre Akay's Av: The Hunt, a chilling indictment of archaic Turkish patriarchal violence in the form of a blisteringly paced survival thriller. While the film borrows plenty of familiar beats and set-ups from better known genre classics, it still manages to set its audience on edge as the characters hurtle toward the unknown, utilizing these tactics as a way to highlight a major issue in the Central Asian nation's more rural corners. Opening in a dingy apartment, we find our heroine, Ayse (Billur Melis Koç) in the middle of a ravenously passionate tryst when a knock on the door interrupts the lovers abruptly. From the look on their eyes, it quickly becomes...

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