FATHERLAND centres on the relationship between the Nobel Prize-winning writer Thomas Mann (Hanns Zischler) and his daughter Erika (Sandra Hüller) – actress, writer and rally driver. 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.

[A] perfectly cut jewel of a movie” – The New York Times

“[Sandra Hüller] gives the kind of performance you never forget” – New York Magazine

“Another expansive, enriching work from a modern master” – Time Out

“A rich and moving journey through post-World War II Germany” – TheWrap