Magnolia Pictures International Acquires Venice Horizons Title ‘Hesitation Wound’ for Worldwide Sales (EXCLUSIVE)

Naman Ramachandran

16 August 2023 at 9:00 am·2-min read

Magnolia Pictures International has acquired worldwide sales rights – including U.S. sales rights – to suspense-drama “Hesitation Wound” from Turkish writer-director Selman Nacar. The film will world premiere in the Venice Film Festival’s Horizons section.

The film follows Canan (Tülin Özen), a criminal lawyer who divides her time between the courthouse and her mother’s hospital bed at night, who has to make a moral choice that will affect the lives of her mother, the judge, and her murder suspect client – whose defense is turning in his favor.

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The cast also includes Ogulcan Arman Uslu, Gülçin Kültür Şahin, Vedat Erincin and Erdem Senocak. The film is produced by Burak Cevik (Fol Sinema), Diloy Gülün (Karma Films), Selman Nacar (Kuyu Film), and co-produced by TRT (Turkey), BKM Mutfak (Turkey), Sev Yapim (Turkey), Nephilim Producciones (Spain), Point Film (Romania) and Arizona Films (France).

Lorna Lee Torres, head of international sales at Magnolia and Austin Kennedy, international sales director, will be launching “Hesitation Wound” in Venice.

Nacar’s debut feature “Between Two Dawns” (2021) premiered at San Sebastian and won best film at Torino.

Nacar said: “I have been deeply interested in the concepts of crime-justice-morality ever since my student years at the faculty of law. With my second film, I have decided that I want to take a deeper look into these matters. ‘Hesitation Wound’ is a film that covers less than 24 hours, forms around a hearing, and focuses on Canan’s moral preferences, which affect her personal and professional life. Even though I preferred to shoot the film from the subjective perspective of Canan, my focus is not on the outcome of her choices but on the consequences of her process.”

Torres added: “We were very impressed by Selman’s distinct choices in this exciting, suspenseful Turkish drama with a riveting performance by Tülin Özen – we think it’s going to be a strong standout. The film doesn’t fall into the typical cliches of other courtroom dramas but uses urgent pacing throughout and delivers a story with real moral weight. We’re thrilled to champion this brilliant filmmaker.”

Magnolia’s 2023 lineup also includes Cannes Un Certain Regard selection “The Delinquents,” Sundance and Berlin winner “Kokomo City,” Berlin selection “Joan Baez: I am a Noise,” SXSW selections “I Used to be Funny” and “Cora Bora” and Sundance opening night documentary “Little Richard: I am Everything.”

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