# Aylin Tezel

Aylin Tezel (German:; born 29 November 1983) is a German actress, writer and director. She was born in Bünde. Her father is a Turkish-born medical doctor practicing in Bielefeld, Germany, and her mother is a nurse. She is a middle child, having an older sister and a younger brother. She had her breakthrough with a main role in the film Almanya - Welcome to Germany which premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival in 2011 and with the main role in the film Am Himmel der Tag (En: "Breaking Horizons"), for which she received the Best Actress Award at the Torino Film Festival in 2012. In 2023 she released her directorial debut Falling Into Place which won the award of the International Federation of Film Critics, known as the FIPRESCI Prize, at the 27th Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival.

## Life and career

Aylin Tezel was born in Bünde and grew up in the Bielefeld district of Sennestadt. There she danced from the age of six and graduated from the Hans Ehrenberg academic high school. She studied acting at the Ernst Busch Academy of Dramatic Arts in Berlin but left the school in her second year. After her film debut in the arthouse feature Innocence [de] (2008), she played a central role in Oliver Kienle's award- winning film Stronger Than Blood [de] (First Steps Award 2010).
The actress was especially noted for her role in Yasemin Şamdereli's film Almanya - Welcome to Germany, which premiered at the 61st Berlin International Film Festival and won the Deutscher Filmpreis (German Film Award) in 2011. The film was a big hit in German cinemas and had cinema releases in many countries. During Christmas 2011, Tezel was seen as Cinderella in Uwe Janson's TV film Aschenputtel and soon afterwards as one of the main recurring characters, young cop Nora Dalay, in Germany's most popular cop series Tatort. Irish director Shimmy Marcus gave her the main part in his short film Rhinos (2011) which premiered at the CFC Worldwide Short Film Festival in Toronto, Canada and was nominated for an award at the Irish Film & Television Awards in 2013.
In 2012 she was seen in main roles in the feature films 3 Zimmer/Küche/Bad (engl. Move) and Breaking Horizons (original title: Am Himmel der Tag). Pola Beck's Breaking Horizons won the Award for Best Film in German-language feature film competition at the 8th Zurich Film Festival and Aylin Tezel received the Best Actress Award at the 30th Torino Film Festival.
Tezel filmed Marco Kreuzpaintner's feature Coming In which was released by Warner Bros. in October 2014, playing female lead Heidi who falls for a gay star- hairdresser (Kostja Ullmann). In the feature Macho Man, the film version of a German bestseller she plays the female lead alongside German actor Christian Ulmen and Danish actor Dar Salim. The film was released in 2015 by Universum Film. She played female lead Sabine in Robert Manson's English-language debut feature film Lost in the Living. The film was released in cinemas in Ireland and Germany in 2017 and was later picked up by Amazon Prime.
Tezel took voice lessons from the late voice coach Julia Wilson-Dickson in London to improve her opportunities for English language roles.
In 2017 Aylin Tezel had a recurring role in the Canadian CBC Television spy thriller television series X Company. She played the Jewish Polish resistance fighter Zosia in 6 episodes of the 3rd season alongside Warren Brown and Evelyne Brochu and spoke English with a Polish accent for the part.
In June 2020 Amazon Studios released the thriller 7500 after it had premiered in competition at Locarno Festival and was released in cinemas in Germany and Austria. Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays the main role, a co-pilot whose plane is hijacked. Tezel plays his girlfriend, stewardess Gökce.
In February 2021 ZDFneo originals released the 6-part miniseries Unbroken in which Tezel plays the main role, Alex, a tough cop trying to find her child after having been kidnapped. Already after the first week of streaming the TV series was announced to be ZDFneo's most successful TV series on ZDF's streaming channel ZDF Mediathek.
Tezel also wrote and directed the short film Phoenix (2020) starring Irish actors Killian Scott, Bríd Brennan and German actress Leonie Benesch which premiered at Max Ophüls Festival.
In 2023 Tezel's directorial debut, the romantic drama Falling Into Place, which she also wrote and starred in alongside Chris Fulton celebrated its European premiere in the first feature competition of the 27th Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival where it was awarded the FIPRESCI award. The film went on to win several awards and is being released in several European countries, as well as in Australia and New Zealand.

## Selected filmography

| Year | Title | Original Title | Role | Notes |
| 2007 | Whom Honor is due | Wem Ehre gebührt | Selda Özkan (L) | Tatort TV series episode |
| 2008 | Innocence [de] | Unschuld | Derya (L) |
| 2009 | Stronger Than Blood [de] | Bis aufs Blut - Brüder auf Bewährung | Sina (S) | First Steps Award 2010 |
| 2010 | Bloch | Bloch - Inshallah | Dalia (L) | (TV Film) |
| 2011 | Almanya - Welcome to Germany | Almanya - Willkommen in Deutschland | Canan (L) | 61st Berlin International Film Festival Competition, Deutscher Filmpreis 2011 for Best Film, Best Screenplay |
| 2011 | Cinderella | Aschenputtel | Aschenputtel (L) | (TV Film) |
| 2012 | Move | 3 Zimmer/Küche/Bad | Maria (L) |
| 2012 | Breaking Horizons | Am Himmel der Tag | Lara (L) | Best German Language Film Award at Zurich Film Festival 2012, Best Actress Award at Torino Film Festival 2012, Best Upcoming Actress at German Actors Awards 2013, Best Actress at Sehsüchte Film Festival 2013 |
| 2012 | Rhinos | Rhinos | Ingrid (L) | (Shortfilm) Nominated for Best Shortfilm at Irish Film & Television Awards 2012, Prix du Public Best Film, Brest European Short Film Festival 2012, Audience Award Best International Short Film, Corona Cork Film Festival 2012 |
| 2012 - 2019 | Tatort | Tatort Dortmund | Nora Dalay (L) | (TV series) 14 episodes |
| 2013 | Kleine Schiffe [de] | Kleine Schiffe | Lilli (L) | (TV Film) |
| 2013 | Inhale | Tanz mit ihr | Sie (L) | (Shortfilm) Director, Producer, Actress, Choreographer Berlin & Beyond Film Festival San Francisco, Cork Film Festival, to be released on Arte in 2015 |
| 2014 | Coming In | Coming In | Heidi (L) |
| 2014 | To Life! [de] | Auf das Leben! | Emily (S) | Vienna Film Award 2015 |
| 2015 | Macho Man [de] | Macho Man | Aylin (L) | Release date: October 29, 2015 - plays a lead character with the same first name as her own |
| 2015 | Lost in the Living | Lost in the Living | Sabine (L) | First lead role in an English language film, DVD released on September 28, 2018 |
| 2015 | Why is This Night Different? | Why is This Night Different? | Amena (S) | Homeland TV series episode aired October 25, 2015 |
| 2016 | The Informant | Die Informantin | Aylin (L) | (TV Film) aired March 19, 2016 - plays a lead character with the same first name as her own |
| 2017 | X Company | X Company | Zosia (S) | (Canadian TV series) guest starred as a Polish-Jewish resistance fighter in third-season episodes 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 10 speaking in English with Polish accent for the role |
| 2017 | Between Heaven and Hell | Zwischen Himmel und Hölle | Ottilie von Gersen (S) | (TV Film) plays a historical character in a film about the Protestant Reformation that was aired on the 500th anniversary of the event, also shown in the UK on BBC with English subtitles |
| 2019 | The Informant 2 | Die Informantin - Der Fall Lissabon | Aylin (L) | (TV Film) aired April, 2019 - The film is a sequel to the film The Informant (2016) |
| 2019 | The Master Butcher | Der Club der singenden Metzger | Delphine (L) | is a miniseries about a group of German emigrants from the 1920s trying to find a new home in America. Jonas Nay and Aylin Tezel are the leads. The film is based on Louise Erdrich's novel The Master Butchers Singing Club and aired on German TV on 27 December 2019 as a 3-hour-long film. Spoken languages in the film are German and English. It was directed by Uli Edel. Aylin won the Bavarian TV Awards 2020 for her performance. |
| 2019 | 7500 | 7500 | Gökce (L) | 7500 is a thriller about a terrorist attack on a plane. It starrs Joseph Gordon-Levitt who plays the Co-Pilot Tobias Ellis. Aylin plays his girlfriend Gökce who is on the same flight as a stewardess. The film was released in German cinemas in December 2019 and globally on Amazon Prime Video in June 2020. |
| 2021 | Unbroken | Unbroken | Alex (L) | German crime-drama miniseries about a young and tough cop, Alexandra Enders, who is nine months pregnant when she is being attacked and disappears. 6 days later she wakes up in a forest, full of blood and without her baby. She tries to find out what happened to her, mistrusting everyone around her, while struggling with her own inner demons. The search for her baby takes her on a journey into her own darkness. Aylin plays main role Alex. The 6-part miniseries was released in Germany on ZDFneo on 23 February 2021 and already a week later ZDF announced that the show is the most watched ZDFneo production ever on ZDF's streaming platform ZDF Mediathek. |
| 2023 | Falling Into Place | Falling Into Place | Kira (L) | A love story set in Scotland and London that follows romance between Kira and Ian, who met too briefly over a winter weekend while on the run from themselves. Aylin also wrote and directed the film. |
| 2023 | Weekend Rebels | Wochenendrebellen | Fatime (L) | Weekend Rebels is about the journey of a father and his autistic son to find the latter's favorite soccer team by visiting all 56 teams in their respective stadiums |

## Awards and nominations

| Year | Award | Category | Project | Result |
| 2012 | Torino Film Festival | Best Actress | Breaking Horizons | Won |
| 2013 | Askania Award | Shooting Star | Tatort, Aschenputtel, Am Himmel der Tag | Won |
| 2013 | Sehsüchte Film Festival | Best Acting | Am Himmel der Tag | Won |
| 2013 | German Film Critics Association Awards | Best Actress | Am Himmel der Tag, 3 Zimmer/Küche/Bad | Nominated |
| 2013 | German Actors Award | Best upcoming actress | Am Himmel der Tag | Won |
| 2013 | Hessischer Film-und Kinopreis | Best Actress | Am Himmel der Tag | Nominated |
| 2015 | German Actors Award | Best actress in a comedy role | Kleine Schiffe | Won |
| 2015 | Jupiter Award | Best TV-Actress | Am Himmel der Tag, Tatort | Nominated |
| 2016 | Hof International Film Festival | Award for Filmmaker | Filmpreis der Stadt Hof | Won |
| 2019 | Festival of Animated Film | Best Voice Actor | Smallfoot | Nominated |
| 2020 | Jupiter Award | Best TV-Actress | Tatort, Die Informantin - Der Fall Lissabon | Nominated |
| 2020 | Bavarian TV Awards | Best Actress | The Master Butcher, original title: Der Club der singenden Metzger | Won |
| 2021 | Deutscher Fernsehpreis | Best Actress | Unbroken | Nominated |
| 2021 | Deutsche Akademie für Fernsehen | Best actress in a main role | Unbroken | Won |
| 2023 | Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival | FIPRESCI Award | Falling Into Place | Won |
| 2024 | Kinofest Lünen | Best Actress | Falling Into Place | Won |
| 2024 | Bavarian Film Awards | Best Newcomer Director | Falling Into Place | Won |
| 2024 | Festival del cinema tedesco | Audience Award | Falling Into Place | Won |
| 2024 | Raindance Film Festival | Best Debut Director | Falling Into Place | Nominated |
| 2024 | Raindance Film Festival | Best Performance in a Debut Feature | Falling Into Place | Nominated |
| 2024 | Raindance Film Festival | Best Debut Feature | Falling Into Place | Nominated |