Image: Ilker Çatak, the UGA German program's Max Kade Visiting Artist of 2022, has had his film chosen to represent Germany for nomination in the 2024 Oscars. The film stars Leonie Benesch (known in the U.S. for Babylon Berlin and the BBC production Around the World in 80 Days) as Carla Nowak, a naïve, idealistic schoolteacher who becomes unraveled when a thieving spree at her school brings out the worst in her fellow teachers, her students, and their parents. The Teacher's Lounge won 'Best Film' at the Lolas, or the German Film Awards, earlier this year, beating out 2023 Oscar winner All Quiet on the Western Front. Çatak’s film also won the Europa Cinemas Label prize as the best European film. The Teachers’ Lounge is Çatak's fourth feature film. He previously was awarded the New German Cinema Award at the Munich Film Festival for the screenplay of I Was, I Am, I Will Be (2019). The same film also earned nominations in five categories at the 2020 German Film Awards, including Best Direction and Best Screenplay, and won the Bronze award for Outstanding Feature Film. Nils Mohl, the chosen Max Kade Writer in Residence for 2024, was also a writer for the film. Congratulations on behalf of the UGA Germanic & Slavic Studies department to Ilker Çatak for this tremendous achievement! The movie will be available for wider viewership on October 7th!
