A Kazakh filmmaker is defending his debut thriller "Sicko," premiering at the Transilvania International Film Festival this week. The hard-boiled crime story—about a couple's internet scam scheme spiraling into chaos—is notably graphic. But director Aitore Zholdaskali argues the film's visceral violence is justified. According to Variety, he's said the movie is "not as violent as life itself," and that audiences should be more afraid of the real world than his fiction. It's a filmmaker's wry rebuttal to the squeamish.

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