Extraklasse (2018)

Former journalist and section editor Ralph Friesner celebrates his 50th birthday. However, the success he enjoyed in earlier days is long gone. Now divorced and unemployed, he rents a room from his former intern Roman and Roman’s grandmother, Karin. He celebrates his birthday only with his friend Ingo and his ex-wife, Laila. The employment office offers him a job teaching at an evening school in Marzahn, warning that otherwise his benefits will be reduced. So he reluctantly accepts, thinking that perhaps this socially minded act might impress Laila, too. At the school, Ralph learns that he won’t be teaching an upper-secondary class, but a class of former school dropouts who now want to earn their lower secondary school-leaving certificates. Principal Dörte Wiedebusch keeps a close eye on Ralph, as if she is just waiting for him to make a mistake. The class is a diverse group that includes Crystal, who is glued to her smartphone; Rina, a mother of several children; Mike, a petty criminal; Gökdal, an older man who cannot read or write; and Norbert, a man with Down syndrome. Ralph learns about his students’ problems and life stories. Despite their initial difficulties, they want to learn from him. Ralph also realizes that in some ways he is not so different from the class. When some of his students want to drop out for various reasons, he has to prevent them from doing so, since he has been tasked with successfully guiding the class to graduation. His journalistic instincts and research experience prove useful. For instance, he manages to free Bob, a Haitian student, from his wife’s clutches; Bob has been living like a slave with her. Ralph encourages Rina, who is expecting her third child, to keep attending classes. He also persuades her husband, Massoud, to take on more of the housework and childcare. At the end of the school year, a large part of the class earns their certificates and celebrates their teacher, Ralph. However, Ralph has already been fired for trying to help Norbert during the exams without permission. It turns out that Norbert deliberately failed the exam so he could continue learning with Ralph. When Ralph goes to Ingo’s bar for a drink, Principal Wiedebusch joins him. She gives Ralph another chance, saying she needs a good and popular teacher like him. She even offers to be on informal terms with him.