Pawel Pawlikowski‘s third go-round at Cannes, the in-competition Fatherland, received a six minute standing ovation today in its world premiere at the Grand Theatre Lumiere.
That marks two big standing ovations for theatrical distributor Mubi, following last night’s Un Certain Regard premiere Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma which landed an unexpected nine-minute standing ovation.
“I hope fifty percent of you meant it,” said a teary Pawlikowski referring to the ovation. In giving thanks to his cast and his crew he added, “For once, I enjoyed watching one of my movies.”
Fatherland stars Hanns Zischler as Nobel Prize-winning author Thomas Mann and Oscar nominee Sandra Hüller as Erika Mann – actress, writer and rally driver. Set 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 U.S.-dominated Frankfurt to Soviet-controlled Weimar.
Fatherland reps Pawlikowski’s first film since 2018’s Cold War which also world premiered at Cannes, notching him Best Director at the fest and ultimately three Oscar noms including Director, Foreign Language Film and Cinematography.
Deadline’s Damon Wise, in his review, calls Fatherland “peak Pawlikowski” and “a masterclass in artistic discipline.”
In his director’s statement, Pawlikowski said that Fatherland contends with the “turmoils of history, with exile and with our transcendental need for home and belonging.”
“It also brings together a dramatic historical moment with a very particular human story. But while the characters in Ida and Cold War were invented, at the centre of Fatherland, we have the historical figures of Thomas Mann and his wayward twins, Erika and Klaus, locked in a triangular family drama,” Pawlikowski said.
“Trying to fuse the personal and the historical in a poignant, mutually enhancing way, we took some liberties with historical facts and their chronology, while trying to stay faithful to the emotional and intellectual truth of the matter.”
You can watch a clip below.
The film sees Pawlikowski reunite with his longtime filmmaking team, which includes Lukasz Zal, Aleksandra Staszko, Katarzyna Sobańska and Marcel Sławiński. The Match Factory is handling international sales. Mubi holds rights in North America, Latin America, the UK, Ireland, Germany, Austria, Benelux, Italy, Spain, Turkey, Australia, New Zealand, and India.
