May 25, 2026 10:47am IST
From Piano Keys To Safecracking: How Daniel Roher Crafted His High-Stakes Audio Thriller ‘Tuner’ (EXCLUSIVE)
Daniel Roher knows how to hold the audience's breath. After capturing the world’s attention—and an Academy Award—with his gripping documentary "Navalny", Roher is pivoting into the world of narrative fiction with "Tuner". The crime thriller follows Niki White (Leo Woodall), a former piano prodigy whose hyper-sensitive, perfect hearing transforms him from a meticulous piano tuner into an elite, accidental safecracker.
But "Tuner" isn't just a story about sound, it is a film built "of" sound. To truly understand the pressure-cooker world Niki inhabits, Roher designed the movie from the ground up as a deeply subjective auditory experience. It’s a project that marries sophisticated sound design with the raw, kinetic energy of the classic crime capers that define our youth.
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Speaking about the creative vision and the meticulous development process behind the film, Roher shared the driving force behind his latest work
“Tuner is a sound designer’s movie. I designed it for sound, making it immersive and placing the audience in the subjective POV of Niki White, so they hear what he hears. I also wanted to make the kind of film I would have wanted to watch when I was 15, 16, 17 years old, a crime film with stakes, music, romance, something propulsive and montage-y. Robert (Ramsey) and I spent about a year spitballing it back and forth, honing and workshopping it until we were really excited about it. Tuner is a propulsive, jazzy film about a piano tuner who realizes the same skill set used to tune pianos — feeling and touch — can equally be applied to cracking safes.”
By blending that hyper-focused auditory perspective with a "jazzy," fast-paced narrative, Roher aims to deliver a thriller that is as intellectually sharp as it is exciting, proving that sometimes, the line between high art and high stakes is just a matter of the right touch.
Don’t miss Tuner, releasing in India on May 29, only in theatres by PVRINOX Pictures.
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