EDGE OF NIGHT by Türker Süer will premiere at the 81st Venice International Film Festival. Producer Viola Fügen (ACE Germany) participated with the project in the ACE 29 Annual Programme.
Sinan, a young lieutenant in the Turkish army, is asked to hand over his brother Kenan to a military court. Burdened by the tragic death of their father, both brothers embark on a journey through a land marked by political unrest. As they confront their beliefs, Sinan’s convictions are put to the ultimate test on the night of the coup. In a country where the State demands absolute loyalty, the brothers must decide if they are ready to face the sacrifices required by their duty and their conscience.
How did the ACE Annual Programme benefit you as a producer, and your ACE project?
I don’t think this film would have been made without ACE. The initial feedback on the project that I received during my wonderful ACE year was very encouraging. The writer-director Türker Süer and I both really benefited from working with Isabelle Fauvel on the script. We actually started financing the project with the draft of the script written after the ACE Content Development Workshop.
What was the most challenging in getting this film from script to the screen?
To close the financing: After a really great start, having the honour of working with Andrea Hanke as commissioning editor at WDR and receiving support from the Film and Medienstiftung NRW, we faced some setbacks. COVID delayed us, and we ran out of solutions—until ARTE came on board, and Eurimages finally saved us by closing the financing.
For my wonderful producing partner Nadir Öperli (ACE Turkey), who executed the shooting in Turkey, I’m sure there were a few more challenges along the way. We couldn’t have made this film without Nadir’s profound producing skills and wonderful, supportive personality.
What’s ahead for you and your company? What are you currently working on?
Michael Weber and I are currently very busy with the production side of Match Factory, which we started more than 10 years ago. My colleague Cécile Tollu-Polonowski produced Alissa Jung’s first feature film PATERNAL LEAVE, which we shot together with Wildside at the beginning of the year in Italy, and we’re now preparing Karim Aïnouz’s next project ROSEBUSH PRUNING in Spain. We’re also looking forward to the premiere of EDGE OF NIGHT in both Venice and Toronto soon.
We just had the premiere of HARVEST by Athina Tsangari in Venice and co-produced THE END by Joshua Oppenheimer (Telluride and Toronto). Altogether, we were involved in seven films premiering at Cannes and the fall festivals this year. I wouldn’t mind if next year is a little less intense.
