‘THE TEACHERS’ LOUNGE’ (DAS LEHRERZIMMER) Director Ilker Catak cast non-actor children in his latest film, Germany’s Oscar submission for Best International Film

By Oliver Carnay

THE TEACHERS’ LOUNGE (Das Lehrerzimmer) is a thought-provoking film that deals with trust between students and teachers in a German school. When one of teacher Carla Nowak’s (an intense portrayal from actress Leonie Benesch) student is suspected of theft, she is caught between her ideals and the school system, the consequences of her actions threatens to break her.

Director Catac effectively has drawn a storyline where audiences are kept intrigued, starting from the first scene where camera is focused on the subject (the teacher following pov), the sound scoring gives an effective nuisance and Catac manages to keep the tension and atmosphere interesting.

At the Q&A after the special screening at AFIFEST (Saturday, October 28), he revealed he was lucky to have found all non-actor kids, especially Leonard Stettnisch (the boy who played ‘Oskar,’ who is actually the real son of the main villain in the movie, Eva Lobau).

‘THE TEACHERS’ LOUNGE’ has won numerous international Awards including Berlin International Film Festival and at the German Film Awards and is Germany’s OSCARS submission for Best International Feature.

THE TEACHERS’ LOUNGE’ has won numerous international Awards including Berlin International Film Festival and at the German Film Awards and is Germany’s OSCARS submission for Best International Feature.

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