When Ilker Çatak was once frisked in school when he was younger, he had no idea that the incident would one day inspire a movie, one that would earn Germany an Oscar nom for international feature film. Sony Pictures Classics’ The Teachers’ Lounge follows Carla Nowak (Leonie Benesch), a schoolteacher who decides to take matters into her own hands when one of her students is suspected of theft. Themes of prejudice, truth and power dynamics are explored in Çatak’s film, which he co-wrote with Johannes Duncker.
It took Çatak three years from conception of the film to the final product, with research and writing of the screenplay taking place during the pandemic. It was then shot over 27 days at an empty school that was about to be torn down in Hamburg, Germany.
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Çatak recently spoke with THR about the challenges of working with children — including having to wait until they’re exhausted to regain directorial control over a scene — and the times when filming felt like Groundhog Day.
Where did the idea for the script originate?
I went to school with my co-writer, Johannes — we were actually classmates — and we had a little incident in our school time that was very similar to the one in the beginning of the film, where three teachers came into the class and frisked us. Back then, we never questioned that sort of behavior, and we weren’t aware of our rights. But when we started thinking about it and talking about it, Johannes told me about his sister, who was a teacher in Cologne. She had a similar incident, and her school secretary was involved. So we thought this could actually be an interesting setup for a community where the atmosphere is poisoned with prejudice and speculations and whatnot. And when we started writing the script and gave it to educators, because you need to do that research — you need it to be waterproof — they said, “Well, this actually does happen on an everyday basis almost. But the difference today would be, you have to do this voluntarily. You cannot just frisk your student.” So we thought this is even more interesting because you hear from politicians all the time, “When it comes to your privacy, if you don’t have anything to hide, you don’t have anything to fear.” The moment we thought about it like that, and they’re acting as if they are your friends, we thought, “OK, this is actually not just about school.”
Did COVID complicate the writing process in terms of researching with educators?
We couldn’t go to schools and do the research during the pandemic, so we had to wait for those little details until almost a couple of weeks prior to the shoot. We both were allowed into schools, did our observations and put them in the screenplay. And the last draft of the screenplay was maybe a month before principal shooting. But those research sessions were very effective, to be honest, because you see things that you cannot come up with as two dudes — for instance, the female students coming into the secretary’s office and asking for tampons. That’s something that the secretary told us when I asked her, “Tell me about an intimate moment that you had with one of the students.”
Did you always want to write and direct this film?
Johannes and I had a brief discussion about who’s going to direct it. And I said to him, “Look, if you want to direct this, then you can go for it. But I would like to do it.” He said, “Thank you for asking. It means the world to me. But I think it’s better off in your hands.” I want to thank him for that.
How did Leonie Benesch come aboard to play Carla?
We always put images on the walls when we write a character, and hers was there from the very beginning. I’d wanted to work with her for a long time. She’s so good in every film that I saw her in, and even if the films aren’t good, she’s always brilliant. When we met, she said, “I’m going to do it. I liked the script, but you’ve got to know one thing: I don’t like children.” She was very honest. And I said to her, “You don’t have to like children. I’m going to take care of them. We’re going to be good cop, bad cop.” And that’s just how we went.
On set, I would do the introduction, talk to the kids, be their best friend. And then once the scene started, she would take over and then do it and go back to her corner. She wanted to keep the authority. She has three brothers, all of them younger than she. And she told me that she knows that children can be angels — but children also can be little assholes.
She’s just a natural. Leonie has an intuition that is really impeccable. For me as a director, she nails it every time, and it was just a gift working with her. I never had to really give her direction. She’s just so smart and her work ethics are just incredible. At the second day of set, she knew all the names of every gaffer, every electrician — she’s that kind of actor who comes to set and treats everybody the same and is so kind to everybody and at the same time is a great and brilliant actor.
What were some challenges you experienced while making the film?
The biggest challenge for me was shooting in one location. At some point, I lost my connection to the stuff that I was shooting. It’s a bit like when you’re on a vacation and you don’t know what day of the week it is. Being in that very same spot for 27 days, six weeks — at some point I said to my DP, “I think I’m losing my relationship to this story.” It’s like Groundhog Day. And of course, if you give 23 children a ball, you’re not going to control them. I remember those scenes in the gym where they play ball. I don’t like using megaphones, and then my DP said to me, “I’m going to roll the camera. You’ve got to let go and just wait for them to be exhausted.” So we did wait, and once they were exhausted, I got back control.
There are a lot of uncomfortable truths tackled in this film. How did you manage those with the cast, especially the younger children?
I didn’t really speak to them about it. I said to them, “I expect you to be professionals. They expect you to be colleagues. I expect you to read the script. And if you have questions, you can come and ask anything.” And honestly, they never came and asked about stuff in this film. But I really tried to treat them like adults. Of course, I was aware of their vulnerabilities as children, and I took care of that. But I also told them, “You need to take responsibility here. This is not fun. This is work. And you have to know, we’re all going to be gone one day, but this film will be around and your kids and grandkids will see it, so you better make sure you deliver the best performance and concentrate.”
This story first appeared in a February stand-alone issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe.
