At the end of August, THE TEACHERS‘ LOUNGE (if... Productions Film) was selected as the German entry for the Oscars®. After the film celebrated its North American premiere in Telluride and will be visiting Toronto, South Korean audiences will now also get the chance to see director Ilker Çatak's drama. THE TEACHERS‘ LOUNGE  is about a young teacher named Carla who, after an incident, is caught between the fronts of outraged parents, opinionated colleagues and aggressive students and is confronted with the structures of a problematic school system. Çatak's film will be screened in Busan in the World Cinema section.

In the Icons section, the two other major German productions will be screened. Angela Schalenec's MUSIC (faktura film) is a family drama coming to Busan. It is about adoption, belonging, loss and fate. Combining a fundamental myth with a musical creation, Schanelec returns with her very own and stunning contemporary take on the tragedy of Oedipus.
Also screening in this section is ANSELM (Road Movies) by Wim Wenders. In his documentary about the artist Anselm Kiefer, Wenders dives deep into the artist's work, revealing his life's journey, his inspiration and his creative process. The film had its world premiere in Cannes this year.

In addition, another eleven co-productions with German participation can be seen in the various sections in Busan, including BLAGA'S LESSONS (42film) by Stephan Komandarev, which won the Crystal Globe for Best Film in Karolvy Vary, and CRITICAL ZONE by Ali Ahmadzadeh (Counter Intuitive Film), which won the Golden Leopard in the main competition at Locarno.

German productions and co-productions in Busan at a glance:

World Cinema
CLUB ZERO by Jessica Hausner (AT/DE/FR/UK, Essential Film)
THE TEACHERS’ LOUNGE (DAS LEHRERZIMMER) by İlker Çatak (if…Productions Film)
BLACKBIRD BLACKBIRD BLACKBERRY by Elene Naveriani (CH/GE/DE, Heimatfilm)
BLAGA'S LESSONS by Stephan Komandarev (BG/DE, 42film)

Icon
KIDNAPPED by Marco Bellocchio (IT/FR/DE, Match Factory Productions)
FALLEN LEAVES by Aki Kaurismäki (FI/DE, Pandora Film)
MUSIC by Angela Schanelec (DE/FR/RS, faktura film)
EUREKA by Lisandro Alonso (FR/AR/DE/PT/MX, Komplizen Film)
ABOUT DRY GRASSES by Nuri Bilge Ceylan (TR/FR/DE/SE, Komplizen Film)
ANSELM by Wim Wenders (Road Movies)

Flash Forward
AN ENDLESS SUNDAY by Alain Parroni (IT/DE/IE, Road Movies)

Wide Angle
FOUR DAUGHTERS by Kaouther Ben Hania (FR/TN/DE/SA, Twenty Twenty Visions)

A Window on Asian Cinema
CITY OF WIND by Lkhagvadulam Purev-Ochir (QA/DE/NL/PT/MN/FR, 27 Films Production)
CRITICAL ZONE by Ali Ahmadzadeh (IR/DE, Counter Intuitive Film)

Contact:
Sylva Häutle (Head of Festival Relations & Producers Liaison)
Angela Sonntag (Head of Press & Public Relations)