Thomas Mann returns to Germany after years of exile. Is he a traitor to his homeland, or a saviour of its culture?

In 1949, Nobel Prize-winning author Thomas Mann (Hanns Zischler) returns to his native Germany for the first time after 16 years in exile. Together with his daughter Erika (Sandra Hüller), he travels through a divided country from American-controlled Frankfurt to Soviet-administered Weimar. While both sides of the country seek to win over the famous writer, old tensions resurface between father and daughter.

Director Pawel Pawlikowski (“Ida”, “Cold War”) tells a poignant postwar German family story through stunning imagery, carried by outstanding performances by Hanns Zischler (TV-series “Babylon Berlin”) and Sandra Hüller (“Anatomy of a Fall”, “The Zone of Interest”).

Pawlikowski took home the Best Director award from the Cannes Film Festival. “Fatherland” has been selected as Poland’s entry for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film.