Carla Nowak (Leonie Benesch) is a dedicated and idealistic new high-school teacher. A fresh face at the school, she seems to have connected with her Year 8 students, who are engaged and eager to learn in her maths class. But something is bubbling underneath the surface, and she’s quickly thrust into a delicate situation when a Turkish boy is suspected of theft. Not convinced of his guilt, Carla takes matters into her own hands and inadvertently starts down a path that soon begins to spiral out of control. As she tries to mediate between students, parents and opinionated colleagues, she is relentlessly confronted with the structures of the school system. Carla is pushed to her limits, and the school becomes a proxy for the cultural and ethical clashes of modern day society.

The Garden Cinema View:

This isn’t going to play out how you expect it to. İlker Çatak’s fourth feature slips through genres with ease. Starting in social drama/’inspirational educator’ mode (how will she reach/teach these kids?), before shifting to moral dilemma/social injustice territory, and then plunging into mind game thriller depths. All this is packaged with some enjoyable but heavy handed Orwellian authoritarianism which casts the school as a microcosm of a surveillance state, including interrogations, and crackdowns on press freedoms (the school newspaper). The social commentary certainly feels a little forced compared to the raw conflict that drives the narrative, although the performances are so committed that most scenes feel stressfully authentic in the moment.

A film that is unlikely to boost primary school teaching applications, The Teachers' Lounge is a thoroughly gripping thriller masquerading deceptively as a social drama.

(Our 20:00 screening on 23 April was followed by a Q&A with lead actor Leonie Benesch.)

Cast:
Leonie Benesch, Leonard Stettnisch, Eva Löbau