İlker Çatak

Directing

İlker Çatak

Born

1984-01-11 (42)

Place of birth

Berlin, Germany

Known for

Directing

Credits

38 titles

İlker Çatak (born 11 January 1984; Berlin) is a Turkish-German director. İlker Çatak was born in Berlin in 1984 and later lived in Istanbul where he completed high school. İlker studied Film Directing in Berlin and Hamburg, graduating in 2014 at Hamburg Media School. His graduation film SADAKAT received many international awards before winning the Student Academy Award in Gold in 2015. İlker’s first feature film, ONCE UPON A TIME INDIANERLAND debuted in 2017 and is an adaptation of the award-winning youth novel ‘Es war einmal Indianerland’ by Nils Mohl. İlker’s second feature film I WAS, I AM, I WILL BE (2019) received the Bronze Lola at the German Film Awards. His feature film STAMBUL GARDE…

Known for

Film credits

Behind the camera

The Teachers' Lounge poster
7.2

When one of her students is suspected of theft, teacher Carla Nowak decides to get to the bottom of the matter. Caught between her ideals and the school system, the consequences of her actions threaten to break her.

The Teachers' Lounge

2023

The Teachers' Lounge poster
7.2

When one of her students is suspected of theft, teacher Carla Nowak decides to get to the bottom of the matter. Caught between her ideals and the school system, the consequences of her actions threaten to break her.

The Teachers' Lounge

2023

Yellow Letters poster
7.2

The marriage of Derya and Aziz is under pressure after losing their jobs because of state arbitrariness and moving to Istanbul to live with Aziz's parents. They and their 13-year-old daughter Ezgi have to redefine their way of life.

Yellow Letters

2026

Yellow Letters poster
7.2

The marriage of Derya and Aziz is under pressure after losing their jobs because of state arbitrariness and moving to Istanbul to live with Aziz's parents. They and their 13-year-old daughter Ezgi have to redefine their way of life.

Yellow Letters

2026

No artwork available
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Heureka

—

No artwork available
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Heureka

—

Old School poster
NR

Thomas is a pickpocket and he's good at it. When he meets Violca, he changes targets. Unfortunately, he also stole from her.

Old School

2013

I Was, I Am, I Will Be poster
6.2

While Kurdish gigolo Baran dreams of a future in Europe, German pilot Marion is struggling to come to terms with her cancer diagnosis. When the two meet at the Turkish holiday resort of Marmaris, they engage in a kind of double-cross and decide to enter into a sham marriage. After a promising beginning, a shared future seems well within their reach. But things turn out not to be quite as simple as that.

I Was, I Am, I Will Be

2019

I Was, I Am, I Will Be poster
6.2

While Kurdish gigolo Baran dreams of a future in Europe, German pilot Marion is struggling to come to terms with her cancer diagnosis. When the two meet at the Turkish holiday resort of Marmaris, they engage in a kind of double-cross and decide to enter into a sham marriage. After a promising beginning, a shared future seems well within their reach. But things turn out not to be quite as simple as that.

I Was, I Am, I Will Be

2019

No artwork available
NR

Documentary dealing with four generations of Turkish migration in Berlin, Germany.

Mehrzahl Heimat

2007

No artwork available
NR

Documentary dealing with four generations of Turkish migration in Berlin, Germany.

Mehrzahl Heimat

2007

No artwork available
NR

Documentary dealing with four generations of Turkish migration in Berlin, Germany.

Mehrzahl Heimat

2007

Borowski und der gute Mensch poster
7.0

No synopsis available yet.

Borowski und der gute Mensch

2021

Blurred Lines poster
5.7

Janik and Samuel are best friends and enjoy the end of high school. Their worlds are different: Janik has parents who always do everything right, while Samuel comes from a broken home. Samuel wants order, Janik wants chaos. A thoughtless moment puts the close bond between the two friends in jeopardy. As they set off on their long-planned trip to Istanbul, the boys are looking to save their friendship, enjoy their freedom and try out a new life.

Blurred Lines

2021

No artwork available
NR

Three youths in a supermarket, trying to waste their time. The game they play is to tell a story's missing beginning, but the story told might hold more truth than fiction. One girl, two guys. That is one too much. So naturally there is mistrust, murder, suicide and some supermarket shopping.

Fast Fiktion

2006

No artwork available
NR

Three youths in a supermarket, trying to waste their time. The game they play is to tell a story's missing beginning, but the story told might hold more truth than fiction. One girl, two guys. That is one too much. So naturally there is mistrust, murder, suicide and some supermarket shopping.

Fast Fiktion

2006

No artwork available
NR

Three youths in a supermarket, trying to waste their time. The game they play is to tell a story's missing beginning, but the story told might hold more truth than fiction. One girl, two guys. That is one too much. So naturally there is mistrust, murder, suicide and some supermarket shopping.

Fast Fiktion

2006

No artwork available
NR

Film adaptation of the David Szalay novel.

Flesh

—

Once Upon a Time in Indian Country poster
6.9

A wild genre mix between a boxer film, urban western, road movie and music video, set at end of the summer holidays in a drab neighborhood in the outskirts of Hamburg suburbia. Young boxing talent Mauser is preparing for a pivotal competition when his father kills his step-mother and flees. Trying to find his father, Mauser embarks on a journey through the world of music, psychedelia, violence, love and a biblical thunderstorm. And what is with the Native American? "Once upon a time in Indian country" is a story that radiates both, heat and poetry.

Once Upon a Time in Indian Country

2017

Zeitraum poster
NR

Frank and Magdalena happily move into their new flat. Then they make a discovery: in one of the rooms time seems to pass differently than outside of it. While Magdalena is scared of the possible dangers, Frank starts to use the room obsessively. The two begin to drift apart.

Zeitraum

2014

Zeitraum poster
NR

Frank and Magdalena happily move into their new flat. Then they make a discovery: in one of the rooms time seems to pass differently than outside of it. While Magdalena is scared of the possible dangers, Frank starts to use the room obsessively. The two begin to drift apart.

Zeitraum

2014

Zeitraum poster
NR

Frank and Magdalena happily move into their new flat. Then they make a discovery: in one of the rooms time seems to pass differently than outside of it. While Magdalena is scared of the possible dangers, Frank starts to use the room obsessively. The two begin to drift apart.

Zeitraum

2014

Fidelity poster
5.9

Istanbul 2014: Aslı gives shelter to a young political activist, who got into a fight with the police. The police investigates the case and ends up questioning Aslı's family. Her husband gets drawn into the affair. Their lives, and also their son's, start to become compromised. The situation escalates, as Aslı is not willing to cooperate with the investigators.

Fidelity

2014

No artwork available
8.0

The seemingly too good to be true love story of a crazy young couple in Istanbul.

Eskimo Frosch

2005

No artwork available
8.0

The seemingly too good to be true love story of a crazy young couple in Istanbul.

Eskimo Frosch

2005

No artwork available
NR

Ayda has just arrived in Germany and lives on her own in her new colorless world. She doesn't communicate too well.

Ayda

2008

No artwork available
NR

Ayda has just arrived in Germany and lives on her own in her new colorless world. She doesn't communicate too well.

Ayda

2008

No artwork available
NR

Ayda has just arrived in Germany and lives on her own in her new colorless world. She doesn't communicate too well.

Ayda

2008

No artwork available
NR

Young and successful Ali from Istanbul leaves the big city to go search for a lucrative piece of land on a sparsely populated island. Unfortunately he is immediately confronted with problems: "No Ferry Today" says a handwritten piece of paper at the gates of the port. In his hurry to somehow get to the island he meets an old fisherman called Memo. Ali offers Memo money to take him to the island, but Memo is satisfied with a cigarette. But since Memo is the captain, he decides the pace of the boat and thus paces the hectic Ali down as well as the story. The differences between the two men seem to be huge at first sight, but when you depend on one another, huge differences become tiny.

Between Borders

2008

No artwork available
NR

Young and successful Ali from Istanbul leaves the big city to go search for a lucrative piece of land on a sparsely populated island. Unfortunately he is immediately confronted with problems: "No Ferry Today" says a handwritten piece of paper at the gates of the port. In his hurry to somehow get to the island he meets an old fisherman called Memo. Ali offers Memo money to take him to the island, but Memo is satisfied with a cigarette. But since Memo is the captain, he decides the pace of the boat and thus paces the hectic Ali down as well as the story. The differences between the two men seem to be huge at first sight, but when you depend on one another, huge differences become tiny.

Between Borders

2008

No artwork available
NR

Young and successful Ali from Istanbul leaves the big city to go search for a lucrative piece of land on a sparsely populated island. Unfortunately he is immediately confronted with problems: "No Ferry Today" says a handwritten piece of paper at the gates of the port. In his hurry to somehow get to the island he meets an old fisherman called Memo. Ali offers Memo money to take him to the island, but Memo is satisfied with a cigarette. But since Memo is the captain, he decides the pace of the boat and thus paces the hectic Ali down as well as the story. The differences between the two men seem to be huge at first sight, but when you depend on one another, huge differences become tiny.

Between Borders

2008

Where We Are poster
NR

Christina has lost custody of her daughter as a result of her heroin addiction. In a desperate attempt she and nine-year-old Paula try to leave the old life behind...

Where We Are

2014

When Namibia Was a City... poster
NR

Yusuf's everyday life is dominated by routine. He has made himself comfortable in his life between television and computer and is happy that way. But the people around him try to get him out of his beloved routine. His working wive and his buddy Tamer make him go on a fishing trip on the frozen lake. He reluctantly agrees to go, but once there, he gets a chance to restore his image as the provider and head of family.

When Namibia Was a City...

2010

When Namibia Was a City... poster
NR

Yusuf's everyday life is dominated by routine. He has made himself comfortable in his life between television and computer and is happy that way. But the people around him try to get him out of his beloved routine. His working wive and his buddy Tamer make him go on a fishing trip on the frozen lake. He reluctantly agrees to go, but once there, he gets a chance to restore his image as the provider and head of family.

When Namibia Was a City...

2010

When Namibia Was a City... poster
NR

Yusuf's everyday life is dominated by routine. He has made himself comfortable in his life between television and computer and is happy that way. But the people around him try to get him out of his beloved routine. His working wive and his buddy Tamer make him go on a fishing trip on the frozen lake. He reluctantly agrees to go, but once there, he gets a chance to restore his image as the provider and head of family.

When Namibia Was a City...

2010