Ilker Çatak On His Uncomfortable Teenage Experience That Sparked ‘The Teachers’ Lounge’ – Contenders International

deadline.com:

Ilker Çatak’s The Teachers’ Lounge world premiered to acclaim in the Berlin Film Festival’s Panorama section in February, then swept the board three month later at the German Film Awards, scooping best film, director, screenplay, editing and actress for Leonie Benesch.

The actress plays a rookie teacher whose career and sanity unravels after she becomes embroiled in a heavy-handed investigation into a series of petty thefts at her school.

Çatak, who was born in Berlin to Turkish parents, says the premise for the film was sparked by a school experience he shared with co-writer and lifelong friend Johannes Duncker. “Three teachers came into the class and frisked us,” Çatak said discussing the film at Deadline’s Contenders Film: International. “We thought it’s a good kick-off for a story where prejudice and assumptions poison a community.” A crucial decision in the writing process was to confine the action to the school. “The moment everything came together, and we started thinking about school as a miniature for society,” he says. “We had to protect this decision a lot… Some of the financiers were like, ‘Shouldn’t we see her in her private life’… but we were always like no, it’s not about whether she is a cat person or a dog person … it’s about how a person takes decisions under pressure.” Benesch’s taut performance is at the heart of the film.

Çatak says he has admired the actress ever since seeing her in Michael Haneke’s 2009 thriller The White Ribbon. “I thought she was extraordinary.