Born in Berlin in 1984, Ílker Çatak grew up there and in Istanbul where he completed high school. He then studied film and television directing in Berlin and Hamburg. His graduation film Sadakat won the Student Oscar in Gold in 2015. He followed his debut feature film Once Upon a Time… Indianerland (2017) with I Was, I Am, I Will Be (2019), which won Best Screenplay at Filmfest München and the Bronze Lola at the German Film Awards. He has also lectured at universities in the USA, Germany, Turkey, Japan, Italy, and Greece. The Teachers’ Lounge captured the Best Film prize at the recent German Film Awards.