Pawlikowski’s new film, “Fatherland”, premiered in the Official Competition at the Cannes Film Festival, where it earned him the Best Director Award.
A Polish-German co-production, the film is set in 1949 and follows German writer Thomas Mann and his daughter Erika as they travel across post-war Germany. For Mann, who left his homeland sixteen years earlier, this is his first return since going into exile. His homecoming confronts him with the past and raises questions about identity, memory, belonging and the meaning of homeland.
As they journey through the country, the two encounter a devastated and divided Germany, vastly different from the one they once knew and left behind. Their journey becomes not only a return to a country deeply scarred by war, but also a personal and family reckoning with memories, tensions and conflicts that often remain unspoken. Through the relationship between father and daughter, the film explores the complex intersection of major historical events and individual experience.
Thomas Mann, Nobel Prize laureate in Literature and one of the most influential figures in 20th-century European culture, was a writer whose life and work were profoundly shaped by exile and his relationship with his homeland. His daughter Erika, a writer, actress and journalist, shared his intellectual and political journey. Together, their stories offer a distinctive perspective on post-war Germany and the struggle to come to terms with its past.
Known for his precise filmmaking, distinctive visual language and interest in characters caught between history, identity and memory, Pawlikowski continues in his latest film to explore the complex relationship between individuals and their homeland. The leading roles are played by acclaimed European actors Sandra Hüller, August Diehl and Hans Zischler.
Held annually in the heart of the desert under the open sky, the Arava Film Festival presents a selection of Israeli and international films. This year’s festival will take place from November 4–14 at the Eshosh Nature Reserve, near the village of Tzukim.
Screening of Fatherland
Thursday, November 12 | 7:30 PM
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