Johannes Duncker, born 1983, grew up in rural Germany and Istanbul in a Protestant minister’s family. He studied in Cologne and Rome and graduated in theater, film and television studies as well as English literature and history with a master’s thesis on the aesthetics of digital film. He has written and directed numerous internationally awarded short films. He currently works as a freelance filmmaker and is the director of KFFK/Shortfilm Festival Cologne. The film The Teachers’ Lounge, based on his first feature-length screenplay (co-written with İlker Çatak), had its world premiere at the 73rd Berlin Film Festival and won five Lolas including “Best Screenplay” at the German Film Awards. The screenplay has been published by Reclam Verlag in May 2023. In January 2024 the film was nominated as ”Best International Film” at the Academy Awards.

At Villa Aurora, together with İlker Çatak, Johannes Duncker will be working on two filmscripts. On the one hand, the fellows will work on the adaptation of a novel, which is to result in an entertaining satire about the “old, white woman” as the best friend of the patriarchy. They want to research locations and the social specifics of the USA. They also want to work on a project that deals with the topic of ”regretting motherhood” and tells the story of a mother who breaks one of the last taboos of our time: leaving her family and children.

Johannes Duncker is Villa Aurora Fellow of Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg.

Selected Filmography
2023 | The Teachers’ Lounge, feature film (screenplay, with İlker Çatak)
2021 | Soft Rains, animated short film (screenplay & director)
2019 | I Was, I Am, I Will Be, feature film (story, with İlker Çatak)
2014 | Short Trip, short film (screenplay & director)
2013 | A Space In Time, short film (screenplay & director, with İlker Çatak)
2010 | When Namibia Was A City..., short film (screenplay & director, with İlker Çatak)
      
Selected Awards
2024 | Academy Award Nomination for “Best International Feature Film“
2024 | LUX Audience Award of the European Parliament
2024 | Latin American Critics Award for “Best European Film“
2023 | European Film Awards – Nomination for “Best Screenplay“
2023 | Dublin International Film Festival – Best Screenplay
2023 | German Film Awards – Best Screenplay