About the director

Claire Burger was born in Forbach in 1978. At first, she worked as a photojournalist, before she was accepted at the renowned film academy La Fémis in Paris. There, she completed an education in film editing. Her first film projects like the short film Forbach (2008) or the feature film Party Girl (2014) were realised in cooperation with her friend and director Marie Amachoukeli. Together with their co-director Samuel Theis, they won the debut prize Caméra d’or for Party Girl at the film festival in Cannes. With her feature film C’est ça l'amour, she directed a film on her own for the first time in 2018, as well as her newest feature film Langue Étrangère which celebrated its world premiere at the Berlinale in 2024.

Press reviews

„Burger’s two prior features, Party Girl (co-directed with Marie Amachoukeli and Samuel Theis) and Real Love, were both set in her hometown of Forbach — a border village where people switch easily between French and German, whether it’s the language or the customs. In Langue Étrangère, her most accomplished work to date, the director movingly reveals how such shifting identities put two girls on a path to find each other and, ultimately, themselves.“ (Jordan Mintzer, The Hollywood Reporter)

“The sequences in which this affection develops are wonderful – not least because of the chemistry between the talented young actresses Lilith Grasmug and Josefa Heinsius. It is almost magical when the two of them fool around in the garden at night and exchange their first kisses. “Is this a dream?” Lena asks at one point when they share an intimate moment together. The camera of Julien Poupard captures captivating images that show the excitement of falling in love.” (Andreas Köhnemann, Kino-Zeit)

The director about the film

“I wanted to make Europe a topic, and ultimately even more: to embody Europe. […] This idea of a student exchange between France and Germany is on the one hand a metaphor for the relation between the two countries, but on the other hand it is the simple attempt to represent my Europe. For there is always the possibility to achieve something together, despite linguistic and cultural differences. I believe in project Europe. Sometimes I have the feeling that it is seen too negatively. I hope the film shows that Europe is more than just an idea.” Claire Burger in an interview with arte