This year’s Cannes has come and gone, and in its wake, the festival has left a host of potential awards contenders.
Among the films that may be vying for prizes again in the fall is Paweł Pawlikowski’s newest movie — his first since Cold War earned him a Best Director Oscar nomination in 2019. And after a Best Director win at Cannes, that film, Fatherland starring Anatomy of a Fall‘s Sandra Hüller, has just released its first trailer.
Here’s everything you need to know about Paweł Pawlikowski’s Fatherland.
The Trailer
The Backstory
Pawlikowski’s third historical, black-and-white feature in a row, Fatherland follows Ida (2013) and Cold War (2018) in examining the recent past of eastern Europe through crisp and haunting cinematography.
Fatherland entered competition at this year’s Cannes Film Festival as a title to watch — no doubt because of Pawlikowski’s pedigree and the hot streak that Hüller has been on — and the film walked away with the Best Director prize.
Mubi will release the film this fall.
The Plot
The film follows real-life father-daughter duo of The Magic Mountain author Thomas Mann and writer-actress Erika Mann during a course of a roadtrip in post-war Europe.
The Cast
After a one-two punch in 2023 with The Zone of Interest and Anatomy of a Fall, Oscar nominee Sandra Hüller has had an already solid 2026 thanks to a supporting role in Project Hail Mary and now Fatherland. She’s joined in the two-hander by German actor and famous Wim Wenders collaborator Hanns Zischler, who plays Thomas Mann.
The Release Date
As the trailer indicates, there is no set landing date for Fatherland other than this fall, but with a pedigree that’s pre-approved by the Oscars, the timing of the release makes sense for an awards play by Mubi.
