fatherland

After the end of the Second World War, Nobel Prize winner Thomas Mann and his daughter, Erika, embark on a journey through a Germany in ruins.

After the end of the Second World War, Nobel Prize winner Thomas Mann (Hanns Zischler) and his daughter, actress, author and cabaret artist Erika (Sandra Hüller), embark on a journey through a Germany in ruins — from Frankfurt in the American occupation zone to Soviet-controlled Weimar. On the anniversary of Goethe, people on both sides of the inner German border want words of comfort, approval and forgiveness from the greatest narrator of all. Between euphoric Wagner heirs and literary-savvy generals, Germany's most important writer is courted and sometimes insulted, while the drama of his own family quietly escalates. It is the first time since the war that Thomas Mann has returned to his home country, from which he had once fled into exile. A journey into the wounded German soul that is supposed to heal — for Erika and the magician, as his children often called Thomas Mann, it becomes a journey into the innermost depths.

After the Oscar-winning IDA and the multi-award-winning drama COLD WAR — THE LATITUDE OF LOVE (Best Director in Cannes, five European Film Awards, including for Best Picture), Paweł Pawlikowski tells a major German family story in the turmoil of the post-war period. With tender relentlessness, VATERLAND blends the zero point in German history with the finale of a family saga. An intensive cinematic experience supported by an outstanding ensemble.

Director: Paweł Pawlikowski
Actors: Sandra Hüller, Hanns Zischler, August Diehl