Fatherland trailer: Sandra Huller film sets November cinema release – Pawel Pawlikowski’s award-winning new film Fatherland, starring Sandra Huller and Hanns Zischler, will open in Australian and New Zealand cinemas on Thursday, 12 November 2026.
The ANZ theatrical release will be handled by Madman Entertainment and MUBI, following the film’s world premiere in Official Competition at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival.
For Australian cinema audiences, Fatherland is a significant arthouse release. It marks Pawlikowski’s return after Ida and Cold War, with another black-and-white European drama built around family, history and post-war identity.
Watch the trailer
What is Fatherland about?
Fatherland centres on the relationship between Nobel Prize-winning writer Thomas Mann, played by Hanns Zischler, and his daughter Erika Mann, played by Sandra Huller.
Set in the summer of 1949, at the height of the Cold War, the film follows father and daughter on a difficult road trip across a ruined and divided Germany. Their journey takes them from US-dominated Frankfurt to Soviet-controlled Weimar.
After 16 years of exile in the United States, Thomas Mann returns to a fractured homeland and must also confront divisions within his own family.
Cannes recognition
The film premiered in Official Competition at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival, where Pawlikowski received the Best Director award ex aequo.
The release describes Fatherland as a continuation of the director’s interest in identity, family, love and guilt amid the turmoil of post-war Europe.
Cast and creative team
The cast also includes August Diehl, Devid Striesow and Anna Madeley.
Pawlikowski wrote the screenplay with Henk Handloegten. He reunites with cinematographer Lukasz Zal, costume designer Aleksandra Staszko, and production designers Katarzyna Sobanska and Marcel Slawinski.
Fatherland is a MUBI, OUR Films, Extreme Emotions, Nine Hours and Chapter 2 production, in collaboration with Circle One and Apocalypso Pictures, with the participation of Arte and Pathe.
Australian cinema release
Fatherland opens in Australian and New Zealand cinemas on Thursday, 12 November 2026.
For more cinema previews, visit TV Central’s Movie Previews section. More public film information is available from MUBI.
