Aylin Tezel Interview

One of the hits of the Glasgow Film Festival this year was Falling Into Place, a new romantic drama by Aylin Tezel in her screenwriting and directorial debut.

The official premise of the movie reads:

'A love story set in Scotland and London that follows a romance between Kira and Ian, who met too briefly over a winter weekend while on the run from themselves.'

It is a fairly standard set-up, but what follows is certainly not as Tezel has found a way to thrust a fresh feel into the romance movie genre - no easy feat.

The two main characters, Kira and Ian, are enamoured with each other from the get-go, but while traditionally thereafter we would have seen the trials and tribulations of their relationship, Falling Into Place goes in another, more profound direction.

Before they find each other, they need to find out who they are as people.

MovieMeter sat down with Tezel, a major star in Germany thanks to roles in projects like Almanya - Welcome to Germany, Am Himmel der Tag (Breaking Horizons), Tatort, Coming In, X Company and 7500 in which she acted opposite Hollywood actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt.

In our interview, she talked about her love of Glasgow and Skye, attempting something new with the romance genre, and the troubles of 30-somethings in the dating world in 2024.

This isn't a romcom, but there are certainly light-hearted moments. Do you feel romantic movies like this are starting to become popular again after the heyday of the 1980s and 1990s?
It's important to point out that it isn't a romantic comedy. Personally, when I hear the words 'romantic comedy' I see myself sitting in the cinema with popcorn. With this film, even if you think you can start with the popcorn, at some point you stop eating it, because the film becomes dark. The two characters, the journey they are going through, is all so sad.

What may be different to this film when we compare it to romantic films of the past few years, is that I will say it's quite an honest approach, when it comes to the topic of love and connection and the different forms of love. Even when we're telling a love story. Romance movies these days deal with being a human being in our time. That is something I wanted to explore with my film also. The question of the influence of who we love and in which way we love them. And, in the way we love or do not love ourselves.

I was able to see the audience reaction in multiple countries. They are surrounded by social media and dating apps and all that kind of stuff that my generation has grown up with. There's a longing for something honest and something real again.

There are two heroes of the piece, Kyra and Ian, but crucially, they are not squeaky clean and both make mistakes in the movie. Was it important that they were seen as real people and not movie caricatures?
For me, it was super important to find balance between realism and poetic tone. Because, I'm still being quite brave and romantic with the story, but at the same time, it was super important to me that the dialogue and the actions of the characters are very real. If we talk about what is real, one needs to mention that we all come with these different characteristics and personality traits and none of us are just one thing. We all have good and bad and happy and sad in us. That's something I wanted to express with those two characters. We all fall and get back up just to find our way.

So, why Scotland, and why Skye in particular?
It really wasn't a conscious choice, it just kind of happened. When I started writing the script, I was in Edinburgh, I was in Scotland for the first time in my life and I had gone to Edinburgh for Hogmanay. So, on the first of January, I sat down in a little cafe in Edinburgh and just started writing. That's probably why the story is in Scotland and why the main male character is Scottish - because I was sitting in Scotland. The story evolved from there.



Skye was eventually chosen
Originally, I had written into my script that the beginning starts in a Scottish coastal town and then when it was clear at some point that we would be able to do the film and that the money was coming in, we started planning. My producer said to me 'Where is this coastal Scottish town?'

I went on a little tour with a friend of mine. When I stepped on the Isle of Skye, I was just in love. There's just something about it. The light is very special. The sunrise, the sunset. Even the light during the day, because of the constantly changing weather. Something foggy, sometimes sunny. Winter and summer in one day. There's something very special there and to me, what I love about it, is that the landscape mirrors the melancholy and loneliness the two main characters are carrying inside them.

You lived in Glasgow during the production of the movie. How did you find the city and the people?
I loved it, my cinematographer and I were there for quite a long time for prep time. We lived in Glasgow for two and a half months, I would say. We lived near Kelvingrove Park and Finnieston so it was a super nice area, all the little cafes. We had our favourite organic shop. Yeah, it was just a really really beautiful time. It was a beautiful time of year too, so it was Spring then we went to Skye to start filming then came back to Glasgow to shoot the London scenes and I thought it was just beautiful. I have a lot of Scottish friends now. I have a big heart for Scottish people and Scotland.

It's where my very first film was written and directed.

Falling Into Place is hot off the heels of an incredible festival run, which saw Tezel pick up the FIPRESCI Critics Prize at Tallinn Black Nights 2023 and the Young Director Award at the Bayersicher FilmPreis 2024.