Paweł Pawlikowski's Fatherland explores post-war Germany

Director Paweł Pawlikowski's new film, ‘Fatherland’, explores the complexities of post-World War II Europe. The film, which won the Best Director award at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival, follows Nobel Prize-winning writer Thomas Mann and his daughter Erika as they travel through a devastated Germany in 1949.

The journey takes them from Frankfurt, under American administration, to Weimar, which is controlled by Soviet forces. This geographic movement serves as a metaphor for a nation attempting to rebuild while facing increasing ideological division. The narrative focuses on the intimate consequences of exile and the strained relationship between father and daughter following sixteen years in the United States.

Starring Sandra Hüller and Hanns Zischler, the black-and-white production is considered a continuation of Pawlikowski's cinematic exploration of European history, following his previous works ‘Ida’ and ‘Cold War’.