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Chicago – Public education is in the fight of its life. As curriculums are determined more through the state, parents and politics, the local authority of a child’s educator is being consistently diminished. This subject is the centerpiece of “The Teacher’s Lounge,” co-written and directed by German/Turkish filmmaker Ilker Çatak.

Rating: 4.5/5.0

Carla (Leonie Benesch) is a dedicated, idealistic young teacher in her first job at a German middle school. Her relaxed rapport with her seventh-grade students is put under stress when a series of thefts occur at the school, and a staff investigation leads to accusations and mistrust among outraged parents, opinionated colleagues, and angry students. Caught in the middle of these complex dynamics, Carla tries to mediate … but the more she tries to do everything right, the more desperate her position becomes. The film has a wide release on January 19th, 2024.

’The Teachers’ Lounge,’ Co-Written/Directed by Ilker...

Exclusive: UTA has signed Ilker Çatak, the writer-director behind Germany’s official International Feature Oscar entry The Teachers’ Lounge, for representation in all areas.

A dramatic thriller acquired by Sony Pictures Classics after premiering at the Berlin Film Festival, where it won the Label European Cinemas and C.I.C.A.E. Awards, The Teachers’ Lounge is set to hit theaters in the U.S. on December 24th. The German-Turkish award-winner’s latest centers on teacher Carla Nowak (Leonie Benesch), who decides to get to the bottom of the matter when one of her students is suspected of theft. Caught between her ideals and the school system, the consequences of her actions threaten to break her.

Over the summer, the film picked up German Film Awards including Best Picture, Screenplay, Director, Actress, and Editing. It had its North American premiere in Telluride, before moving on to TIFF and AFI Fest,...

Germany’s Oscar submission to open in US on December 24 via SPC.

Ilker Çatak, director of Germany’s Oscar submission The Teachers’ Lounge, has signed with UTA for representation in all areas.

Dramatic thriller The Teachers’ Lounge premiered in Berlin and was acquired by Sony Pictures Classics, which will release in the US on December 24.

The film won the European Cinemas Label and Cicae Award at Berlin, and picked up several awards at the German Film Award in May including best picture, screenplay, director, actress for Leonie Benesch, and editing.

The Teachers’ Lounge received its North American premiere in Telluride,...

Project is set to film in Germany in autumn 2023.

The Teachers’ Lounge director Ilker Çatak is reteaming with producer Ingo Fliess of if…Productions and cinematographer Judith Kaufman for his next feature, Yellow Letters.

Paris-based Haut et Court is on board as a co-producer and distributor in France and Alamode as distributor in Germany.

Set to shoot in Hamburg and Berlin from autumn 2023, Yellow Letters tells the story of an artist couple in Turkey who lose their jobs overnight due to arbitrary state action and start to live in exile. Together with their growing daughter, they fight for a life...

Leonie Benesch as an idealistic young teacher who tries to get to the bottom of a series of thefts.

Curzon FIlm has acquired UK and Ireland rights to İlker Çatak’s The Teachers’ Lounge from Brussels-based sales company Be For Films.

The Berlin Panorama title has also sold to King Records for Japan, Nonstop Entertainment for Scandinavia, Alambique for Portugal, Lighthouse Film Distribution for Singapore and Light Year Images for Taiwan.

The film stars Leonie Benesch as an idealistic young teacher who tries to get to the bottom of a series of thefts at the high school where she works.

Film has secured multiple deals in Europe and beyond.

Brussels-based sales company Be For Films has agreed multiple deals for İlker Çatak’s The Teachers’ Lounge, which recently world premiered in the Panorama section of the Berlinale.

The film, which stars Leonie Benesch, has sold in Europe to France (Tandem), Benelux (Cineart), Italy (Lucky Red), Spain (A Contracorriente), Greece (Cinobo), Hungary (Mozinet) and Switzerland (Filmcoopi).

It has also sold to Madman for Australia and New Zealand, New Cinema in Israel, Bir Film in Turkey, Moving Turtle for Mena and Dhl Studio in South Korea.

Be For Films says discussions are ongoing for the USA,...

İlker Çatak’s fourth feature stars Leonie Benesch.

Brussels-based sales company Be For Films has boarded İlker Çatak’s The Teachers’ Lounge, which world premieres in the Panorama section at next month’s Berlinale.

The film stars Leonie Benesch as an idealistic young teacher who tries to get to the bottom of a series of thefts at the high school where she works. But she reaches breaking point as she finds herself mediating between outraged parents, opinionated colleagues and aggressive students. Benesch made her name in Michael Haneke’s award-winning drama The White Ribbon, and has since gone on to star in The Crown,...

Last year’s Munich break-out was Eva Trobisch’s ‘All Is Good’ .

The Munich Film Festival is proving to be the place to go to first catch films by rising German directors. All of the 18 titles in the festival’s New German Cinema line-up are world premeires this year and many have attached international sales agents ahead of their launch.

Ilker Catak’s romantic drama I Was, I Am, I Will Be opened the strand on June 28. Danish sales agent Level K took on its first ever German feature when it acquired the the rights to the film just before...

Ilker Çatak-directed feature will have its world premiere at the Munich International Film Festival.

Copenhagen-based LevelK has acquired world sales rights for German drama I Was, I Am, I Will Be (Es Gilt Das Gesprochene Wort), which will have its world premiere at the Munich International Film Festival.

The deal marks LevelK’s first German feature.

Ilker Çatak directs and co-writes with Nils Mohl. The story follows a Turkish gigolo who meets a German pilot on the beaches of Marmaris.

Çatak said, ”A Turkish gigolo meets a German pilot… With that premise, we instantly knew that such a relationship...