The German film “The Teacher’s Room” by director Ilker Çatak (39) has come a lot closer to a possible Oscar trophy. Wim Wenders (78) also moved one step further in the Oscar competition with his film “Perfect Days”.
Both films made it onto the so-called shortlist of a total of fifteen candidates, as announced by the Oscar Academy in Beverly Hills, California. 88 countries applied for the Oscar in the “International Feature Film” category in 2024. Five films will later make the final selection.
“The Teacher’s Room” tells of a conflict at a school that gets out of hand. The focus is on a young teacher (Leonie Benesch) who wants to solve a series of thefts at her school. “Being among the last 15 films on the shortlist for the Foreign Oscar means an incredible amount to us as an entire team,” Çatak told the German Press Agency. “We hope that the film will now reach even more people and thereby draw attention to the often underestimated work of teachers worldwide.” The school drama was selected as Germany’s candidate for the Oscar competition at the end of August by German Films, the foreign representative of German film been.
Wenders: “What an honor”
Wenders shot his poetic film “Perfect Days” in Tokyo – the film is in the running for the foreign Oscar for Japan. “What an honor to be able to represent the country of Yasujiro Ozu, Akira Kurosawa, Kenji Mizoguchi and so many more greats,” said Wenders in a statement, referring to famous Japanese directors. In September, Wenders’ film won the German Film Art Theater Guild Prize as “Best Foreign Film”.
This means he is prepared to “represent the Japanese colors in the Oscar race for Best International Feature Film,” added Wenders. “But I’m well aware that I’m actually only there as a sidekick to my wonderful actor Kōji Yakusho.” “Perfect Days” is set in Tokyo and tells the story of a man named Hirayama (Yakusho), who works as a toilet cleaner, with his seems content with a simple life and lives very much in the moment.
Wenders has already been nominated for an Oscar three times: in 2000 with the musician documentary “Buena Vista Social Club”, in 2012 with the 3D dance film “Pina” about Pina Bausch and in 2015 with the documentary “The Salt of the Earth” about the Brazilian photographer Sebastião Salgado. In the end, the director always came away empty-handed.
Joy in mutual success
The possible meeting of two German directors in the “International Feature Film” category at the Oscars would be an exceptional case. In September, Wenders and Çatak both screened their films at the Telluride Film Festival in the US state of Colorado. Çatak raved about meeting his “idol” in a dpa interview in October. He grew up with Wenders’ films and now they are happy about each other’s success.
In addition to Germany and Japan, countries such as France (“Beloved Cook”), Italy (“Io capitano”), Great Britain (“The Zone of Interest”), Spain (“The Snow Society”) and Ukraine (“20 Days in Mariupol”). According to German Films, German production companies are also involved in three other candidates – from Finland (“Falling Leaves”), Denmark (“The Promised Land”) and Tunisia “Four Daughters”.
Things will get exciting again on January 23rd, when the finalists in all competition categories will be announced in Hollywood. The Oscars ceremony is scheduled to take place on March 10, 2024.
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