“[Sandra Hüller] gives the kind of quietly grand performance you never forget, the kind that perfectly matches this quietly grand movie.” - Alison Willmore, Vulture
“Damn-near perfect... [FATHERLAND] is immaculately performed by Zischler and especially Hüller, grounding the film throughout with an uncanny, expressive stillness... The film may be in black and white, but the world it depicts is not.” - Leslie Felperin, Hollywood Reporter
“The power of the movie creeps up on you with its emotional restraint, the beauty of its black-and-white images and the delicacy with which Pawlikowski explores the devastations trembling under the faces of both father and daughter.” - Manohla Dargis, The New York Times
This critical darling premiered at Cannes, where it earned Paweł Pawlikowski the Best Director prize. FATHERLAND centers on the relationship between Nobel Prize–winning writer Thomas Mann (Hanns Zischler) and his daughter Erika (Sandra Hüller)—an actress, writer, and rally driver. In the summer of 1949, at the height of the Cold War, father and daughter embark on a challenging and emotional road trip in a black Buick, taking them across a Germany in ruins—from US-dominated Frankfurt to Soviet-controlled Weimar. Returning home after sixteen years of exile in the US, Thomas Mann must face not only a divided fatherland but also a deep fracture within his own family. With FATHERLAND, Pawlikowski picks up where he left off with his award-winning IDA and COLD WAR, exploring—in his elliptical, distilled style—the themes of identity, family, love, and guilt amid the turmoil and confusion of postwar Europe.
Awards & Nominations
2026 Cannes Film Festival - Winner, Best Director
2026 Telluride Film Festival - Winner, Silver Medallion
Be Kind, Rewind | December 11–31, 2026
Join us as we rewind the best and biggest films of 2026—from favorite titles that graced the Siskel Film Center’s screens to movies that thrilled audiences across the country. A mini-reflection on the cinematic year that was, BE KIND, REWIND surveys breakout features, new epics from established masters, barnstorming documentaries, and one highly anticipated restoration. As the final days of 2026 slip away, the Siskel Film Center invites you to consider what these films reveal not just about the movies of the year but about 2026 itself.
The Film Center is ADA accessible. This presentation will be projected without open captions. The theater is hearing-loop equipped. For accessibility requests, please email filmcenter@saic.edu