Cannes Film Festival 2026 I San Sebastián International Film Festival 2026 I Telluride Film Festival 2026
Best Director, Cannes 2026
Fatherland explores the relationship between the Nobel Prize-winning writer Thomas Mann and his daughter Erika, an actress, writer and rally driver. In the summer of 1949, at the height of the Cold War, father and daughter set out for a challenging and emotional road trip in a black Buick taking them across a Germany devastated by war, from US-dominated Frankfurt to Weimar controlled by the Soviet Union. Returning home after sixteen years of exile in the US, Thomas Mann has to face not only a divided fatherland, but also deep divisions within his own family.
Polish filmmaker Paweł Pawlikowski began his career with documentaries before directing BAFTA-winning films Last Resort in 2000 and My Summer of Love in 2004. Ida, directed by him, became the first Polish film to win the Oscar for Best International Feature in 2013. It also won five European Film Awards, including Best Film, Best Director and Best Screenwriter. Cold War premiered in Competition at Cannes 2008 where Pawlikowski won the Best Director Award.
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