International Contenders Six Great Performers

Newcomers and Oscar acting nominees and winners from around the globe are the talk of the town as the 2024 Academy Awards race heats up BY BEATRICE VERHOEVEN LEONIE BENESCH GERMANY The Teachers' Lounge The German actress, who has appeared in The Crown and Around the World in 80 Days, stars as an idealistic teacher trying to solve a series of thefts at her school in the film that was selected as Germany's entry for the 2024 Academy Awards. Friedel won the breakthrough performer award at this year's Montclair Film Festival for his powerful performance as a man living next to the Auschwitz concentration camp with his family. KÔJI YAKUSHO JAPAN Perfect Days Known for his roles in Shall We Dance?, Memoirs of a Geisha and Babel, Yakusho's name is making the rounds on the Oscars circuit for his performance in Perfect Days, Japan's official selection, directed by three-time Oscar-nominated German auteur Wim Wenders (see page 16).