Helge Albers, CEO of MOIN Film Fundsays: "Kudos to the talent and vision of İlker Çatak! His stirring school drama 'The Teachers' Lounge' has now taken the next step towards the Academy Awards. Our congratulations also go to the team of 'King's Land' around Directors Nikolaj Arcel and the German co-producers Fabian Gasmia and Katja Lebedjewa. We are counting down the days until the final Oscar® nominations in January and are keeping our fingers crossed for both film crews."

About the films:
In "The Teachers' Lounge", European shooting star Leonie Benesch slips into the role of a Hamburg teacher. When one day one of her pupils is suspected of theft, she decides to investigate the matter personally - and threatens to break her ideals and the school system. The film by Hamburg Media School graduate İlker Çatak was shot entirely in Hamburg. Çatak wrote the script together with Johannes Duncker. MOIN Film Fund supported the project by if...Productions Film with 390,000 euros. Directors İlker Çatak already had his first taste of Oscar® air in 2015. With his HMS graduation film "Sadakat", he won the "Student Oscar®" in gold.

The film celebrated its world premiere at the 73rd Berlin International Film Festival in 2023. In addition to two nominations for the European Film Awards, "The Teachers' Lounge" won five Lolas at the German Film Awards - including the Lola in Gold for Best Feature Film.

"King's Land" (Int. title: "The Promised Land") by Nikolaj Arcel is set in 17th century Denmark: Danish King Frederik V decides that the wild heathland of Jutland should be tamed, cultivated and colonised. However, no one dared to obey the king's decree, as numerous dangers lurked in the heath. Except for the lone soldier Ludvig Kahlen, who strives for wealth and honour - for this role, actor Mads Mikkelsen was recently honoured with the European Film Award for "European Actor". Plaion Pictures will release the film in German cinemas on 2 May 2024.

The historical drama "King's Land" celebrated its German premiere at Filmfest Hamburg. The historical drama was produced by Zentropa, with German co-producers Fabian Gasmia and Katja Lebedjewa. Part of the post production took place in Hamburg, and the film music was also recorded in the Hanseatic city. The MOIN Film Fund supported the production with 150,000 euros.

Three other MOIN-funded productions also made it onto the longlist for the 2024 Oscars: the student Oscar winner "Istina (Truth)" by Tamara Denić, the animated short film "I'm not afraid!" by Marita Mayer and the drama "About Dry Grasses" by Nuri Bilge Ceylan.

The road to the Oscars®:
The 95th Oscars® Distribution will take place on 10 March 2024 in Hollywood. The final nominations are to be announced on 23 January 2024.