a teacher’s nightmare in a gripping thriller

The first film released in theaters in France by German director İlker Çatak, “The Teachers’ Room” is in the running for the Oscars, in the best international film category.

Behind closed doors in a German college disrupted by a series of thefts, The Teachers’ Room, which hits theaters on Wednesday March 6, broke admissions records in Germany. Multi-awarded at festivals, he has won five Lolas, the German equivalent of our Césars.

If İlker Çatak’s three previous films were broadcast on Arte, this is the first time that he is in theaters in France, after having attracted 300,000 spectators in Germany in a few months.

College theft

In Germany, a series of thefts committed in the staff room of a college worries the administration. Math teacher, Carla Nowak voluntarily leaves her jacket with her wallet in a pocket, in front of her computer which is filming, until a civil servant she recognizes steals her money.

The accusation, which the latter refutes, causes a crisis in the establishment, particularly with Oskar, the son of the suspected thief, whom the professor has in her class.

İlker Çatak extracts a complex and rich tension from a situation that is not even a news story: the theft at school. Situated in the protected, secure setting of a German public establishment, the film plays on this security which is essential to the sharing of knowledge. This theft that Carla suffers will victimize her doubly. Although she has only recently arrived, the malevolence that targets her distinguishes her from her colleagues and is compounded by her confrontation with Oskar, convinced of his mother’s innocence.

Civic film

Observer of the situation, İlker Çatak takes advantage of the college as an unusual location for a thriller. The description of a closed, autonomous universe, with its rituals, the classroom, the refectory and the “teachers’ room” lifts the veil on a world to which parents of students have little access. The filmmaker does not make a documentary fiction from it, but transforms the college into a dramatic place, where a play with a civic sense is played out.

Carla sees the spell she cast turning against her, as the instigator of her own theft. By discovering the thief, she paradoxically creates chaos. If she receives violence from Oskar in return, their conflict affects the entire school, until its resolution. The progression of the story and the tensions specific to the thriller lead to an open ending which questions good citizenship, tolerance and integrity. Great program.

The sheet

Gender : Drama
Director: İlker Chatak
Actors: Leonie Benesch, Michael Klammer, Rafael Stachowiak
Country : Germany
Duration : 1h39
Exit : March 6, 2024
Distributer : Tandem

Synopsis: While a series of thefts take place in the teachers’ lounge, Carla Nowak leads the investigation in the college where she teaches. Very quickly, the entire establishment is shaken by his discoveries.