In her very funny and illuminating film Need for Meat, selected for Berlinale Culinary Cinema section, Frank tries to overcome her meat obsession by taking a job in an abattoir, before plumbing her own psychological depths during an intensive course of therapy.

“This has been an issue for a long time for me,” Frank stresses. “I grew up in one of those macrobiotic, vegetarian families. ‘Eating meat is for people who don’t think,’ my Mum used to say. But when I was five I wanted to start eating meat and I’ve never been able to stop since. I’ve wanted to be a vegetarian since I was in my twenties but somehow I didn’t manage. But since my daughter Sally was born, three and half years ago, I thought, if I’m ever going to make this documentary about meat, this is the moment. Because it wasn’t all about me anymore, I had to decide for her too.”

Frank is buffeted within a vortex of indecision as she assesses the advantages of a meat-free diet. She witnesses her first animal slaughter and talks to committed (and very persuasive) vegans. She visits horrendously crowded battery chicken farms and is told that half a billion animals are slaughtered every year in the Netherlands alone to meet consumer demand.

But despite all this, when it comes to meat Frank just cannot stop herself, especially when sexy chef Joris comes on the scene. He is a man whose meat is ethically reared and lovingly prepared, and her carnal desires re-surface once more, so much so that she dreams of a naked marinade massage beneath his professional hands. And the steak he cooks for her is lustily, greedily and messily consumed. “You need a little bit of lightness and humour just to digest a film about the subject,” Frank claims. “The dream sequences were important so that I could introduce a bit of fantasy and sexiness. It wasn’t all hard core reality.”

Dramatic tension is raised to breaking point at the film’s end when a key and recurring ‘will she/won’t she?’ question is resolved. Is Frank prepared to slaughter, albeit ethically and with professional guidance, one of the cows that will provide the delicious meat that she craves? “I wanted to be there with the camera at all the key moments. Capturing these moments when they really happen makes a film special and exciting,” she underlines.

Frank is grateful to fellow Dutch filmmaker Suzanne Raes to whom she accords co-director status. “I did the research, but Suzanne came up with some very important ideas for the film, such as the therapy that put everything into the context of an addiction, but also the fantasies and the dreams,” she says. “Suzanne was always there for me when I was completely messed up, which was a lot in this film. She was a good friend as well as my mentor.”

Judging by her excitement after the world premiere at IDFA 2015, Frank isn’t bearing any emotional scars after her experiences on the film, but it was a tough and revelatory journey nevertheless. “I never thought the film was going to have such a big impact on my life – I was completely a mess by the end,” she stresses. “The therapy was pretty hard core, and also working in a slaughterhouse I was constantly pushing my own boundaries and thinking ‘if I can do this what kind of person does that make me? Could I fight in a war now?’ It was all much more intense than I expected it to be.”

Need for Meat, Marijn Frank. Script: Suzanne Raes. Production: IDTV Docs