From Pawel Pawilkowski, Oscar and Bafta winning filmaker of Ida and Cold War. Nobel-winning author Thomas Mann and his grown up daughter Erika (Sandra Hüller – The Zone of Interest, Anatomy of a Fall) – actress, writer and rally driver, return to post-war Germany and find themselves adrift as they navigate family, love and guilt amid the turmoil and confusion of post-war Europe.
In the summer of 1949, at the height of the Cold War, father and daughter embark on a challenging and emotional road trip in a black Buick taking them across a Germany in ruins – from US dominated Frankfurt to Soviet controlled Weimar. Returning home after sixteen years of exile in the US, Thomas Mann has to face not only a divided fatherland, but also a deep fracture within his own family.
With Fatherland, Pawlikowski picks up where he left off with his award-winning Ida and Cold War, exploring – in his elliptic, distilled style – the themes of identity, family, love and guilt amid the turmoil and confusion of post-war Europe.
Director: Pawel Pawlikowski
Starring: Sandra Hüller, Hanns Zischler & August Diehl
Year: 2026
Language: In German with English subtitles
Country: Italy / Poland
Running time: 1hr 22mins