Villa Aurora Events Archive
February 2025
İlker Çatak – East Coast Tour
East Coast
German Movie Nights: The Teacher's Lounge
Screening & Discussion
January 31, 7 p.m. (ET)
Location: Goethe-Institut New York
About: The German Film Office is pleased to host a screening of İlker Çatak’s award-winning feature film The Teachers’ Lounge, followed by a Q&A with the filmmaker, moderated by film critic Tomris Laffly.
A conversation with director İlker Çatak
Conversation
February 3, 12 p.m. (ET)
Location: Tufts University (Boston, Massachusetts)
About: To kick off the new semester the Tufts German Department is proud to welcome the Turkish-German director İlker Çatak for a conversation about his academy award nominated and German film award-winning movie The Teacher's Lounge.
İlker Çatak presents The Teacher's Lounge
Screening & Discussion
February 3, 7 p.m. (ET)
Location: Goethe-Institut Boston
About: Screening of İlker Çatak's award-winning feature film The Teachers’ Lounge, followed by a Q&A with the filmmaker.
Screening & Discussion The Teacher’s Lounge with İlker Çatak
Screening & Discussion
February 5, 4 p.m. (ET)
Location: Dartmouth College (Hanover, New Hampshire)
About: Screening of Academy Award nominee film The Teachers' Lounge with Director İlker Çatak in person. Q&A to follow the screening.
Screening & Discussion Es Gilt das Gesprochene Wort (I Was, I Am, I Will Be) with İlker Çatak
Screening & Discussion
February 6, 6 p.m. (ET)
Location: Brandeis University (Waltham, Massachusetts)
About: Film screening of director İlker Çatak's Es gilt das gesprochene Wort (I Was, I Am, I Will Be). After the screening, İlker Çatak will be present for a conversation about the film.
About İlker Çatak
İlker Çatak, born in Berlin, studied film directing at the Hamburg Media School. Today, he works and lives as a screenwriter and director in Berlin. His films mainly deal with themes such as identity, power structures, and social conflicts.
Selected Awards
2024 | Academy Award Nomination for The Teachers’ Lounge
2023 | Golden Lola, Best Director, Best Screenplay for The Teachers’ Lounge
2020 | Bronze Lola for I Was, I Am, I Will Be
2015 | Gold Student Academy Award
Film Screening: Shadows by Rand Beiruty
Santa Barbara International Film Festival
Information
Shadows will be screened at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival as part of the "Animated Shorts" segment.
Director Rand Beiruty presents her film Shadows at the 40th Santa Barbara International Film Festival in the segment "Animation Shorts,", discussing themes of resilience, sacrifice, and womanhood, and how her film brings these important stories to light.
Find more details about the festival and the 2025 program here.
Participants
Rand Beiruty is a writer, director, and producer. She holds a practice-based Ph.D. revolving around questions of representation and participatory filmmaking from the Film University Babelsberg KONRAD WOLF. She has pitched her projects on international platforms and received awards from, among others, the Tribeca Film Institute, Mifa Animation du Monde, the Arab Cinema Center, and the European Network of Young Cinema. Her debut feature documentary Tell Them About Us celebrated its world premiere at CPH:DOX 2024 while her short animated documentary Shadows had its world premiere at the 81st Venice International Film Festival.
Selected Awards
2024 | Best European Feature Documentary for Young Audience, 64th Zlín International Film Festival
2021 | Haus am See Scholarship
2020 | Best Pitch, Reception of German Film Schools
2020 | Arab Cinema Award, Cairo Film Connection
2017 | Winner of Tribeca Film Institute – If/Then Competition, CPH:DOX
2016 | European Short Pitch (ESP) Jury Prize, International Script Pitch, Interfilm Berlin
Film Screening & Discussion: The Seed of the Sacred Fig
Goethe-Institut Los Angeles (1901 W. 7th St. Suite AB, Los Angeles, CA 90057)
Join us on Friday, February 7th at the Goethe-Institut for a special screening of Mohammad Rasoulof's multi-award-winning film THE SEED OF THE SACRED FIG, 97th Academy Awards® Nominee – Best International Feature Film.
Program
6:30pm THE SEED OF THE SACRED FIG
9:15pm Discussion with Mohammad Rasoulof + actor Setareh Maleki
10:00pm End of Event
Information
THE SEED OF THE SACRED FIG
Germany/France/Iran (2024), 166 Min., Farsi with English Subtitles
Writer-Director – Mohammad Rasoulof
Cast – Misagh Zare, Soheila Golestani, Mahsa Rostami, Setareh Maleki, Niousha Akhshi, Reza Akhlaghi, Shiva Ordooei, Amineh Arani
Producers – Mohammad Rasoulof in Coproduction with Mani Tilgner, Rozita Hendijanian, Amin Sadraei, Jean-Christophe Simon
Production Company – Run Way Pictures in coproduction with Parallel45.
Shot entirely in secret, Mohammad Rasoulof’s award-winning thriller, THE SEED OF THE SACRED FIG, centers on a family thrust into the public eye when Iman is appointed as an investigating judge in Tehran. As political unrest erupts in the streets, Iman realizes that his job is even more dangerous than expected, making him increasingly paranoid and distrustful, even of his own wife Najmeh and daughters Sana and Rezvan.
AWARDS
Cannes Film Festival – 2024 Special Jury Prize - Official Competition, Grand Prix - François Chalais Prize, Ecumenical Award (Prix du Jury Oecuménique), Fipresci Award, French Theater Association Prize (Prix des Cinémas Art et Essai)
Sydney Film Festival – 2024 Audience Award for Best International Feature,
San Sebastian Film Festival – 2024 City Of Donostia / San Sebastian Audience Award For Best European Film
Partners
Presented in cooperation with the Goethe-Institut Los Angeles, the German Consulate General Los Angeles, NEON and the German Films.
