Paweł Pawlikowski’s Fatherland explores Thomas Mann’s return to Germany

Paweł Pawlikowski’s new film, ‘Fatherland’, explores the historical return of Nobel Prize-winning author Thomas Mann to Germany in the summer of 1949. Following sixteen years of exile in the United States, Mann travels through a war-torn and divided nation, moving from the American-controlled Frankfurt to the Soviet-influenced Weimar.

The film, shot in black and white, features performances by Sandra Hüller and Hanns Zischler. It focuses on the tensions of the early Cold War era and the personal fractures within Mann’s family. Pawlikowski, known for ‘Ida’ and ‘Cold War’, uses the narrative to examine themes of belonging and collective responsibility during a period of intense European division.

‘Fatherland’ recently won the Best Director award at the Cannes Film Festival and is scheduled for release in Italian cinemas on October 16 via MUBI.