When does the screening of Fatherland take place?

The screening begins on Monday, October 12, 2026, at 20:00 and is expected to end around 21:30.

Where is Fatherland shown?

The screening takes place at filmforum at Dellplatz 16 in 47051 Duisburg.

How much is the admission fee?

The regular admission fee on Monday, the cinema day of filmforum, is 7.90 euros.

How long does the film last?

Fatherland lasts approximately 81 to 82 minutes depending on the program note. About 90 minutes is planned for the entire event.

What age is the film suitable for?

The film is approved for all ages.

What is the film about?

The film tells the story of Thomas Mann's return to Germany in 1949 and his journey with daughter Erika through a politically and morally devastated post-war country.

Fatherland at filmforum: Thomas Mann's return becomes an moving cinematic experience

Name: Fatherland
Start: 2026-10-12T20:00:00+02:00
End: 2026-10-12T21:30:00+02:00
Location: filmforum

Fatherland: Thomas Mann's return as a cinematic literary experience

On Monday, October 12, 2026, the filmforum Duisburg will screen Paweł Pawlikowski's historical drama Fatherland. At the center is Thomas Mann, played by Hanns Zischler, who returns to Germany in 1949 for the first time since his emigration in 1933. The presentation combines literary memory, post-war German history, and an intense author encounter on screen.

A writer between return and alienation

In this film, Thomas Mann encounters a country that seems both familiar and foreign to him. Together with his daughter Erika, portrayed by Sandra Hüller, he travels from Frankfurt in the American occupation zone to Weimar. Amid Goethe's anniversary, political appropriation, and the moral ruins of the post-war period, the central question arises: Who does Thomas Mann belong to?

The narrative tension arises from the contrast between public admiration and private uncertainty. The Nobel laureate is received as a cultural authority, while his return simultaneously represents a journey into his own biography and into the wounded German memory.

Literature, history, and linguistic attitude

Fatherland develops its literary quality not as a classic author biography but as a precise study of exile, belonging, and cultural responsibility. Pawlikowski focuses on the tension between the celebrated writer and the man who, after years of exile, is searching for a place he can call home again.

Hanns Zischler gives Thomas Mann a restrained, melancholic presence. Sandra Hüller portrays Erika Mann as an alert and contradictory companion. Their relationship adds an intimate atmosphere to the historical material and makes the film's big questions palpable in personal moments.

A film by Paweł Pawlikowski

Director Paweł Pawlikowski, known for his formally concentrated visual language, tells the return as a quiet road movie through a Germany in transition. Cool black-and-white images and the tight 4:3 format enhance the impression of historical footage. The aesthetic creates a reading atmosphere without words: each shot feels like a fragmentary memory, each conversation like an echo of German literary history.

The film thereby opens a cultural discourse on exile, political identity, and the role of writers in a society searching for moral orientation. Those interested in Thomas Mann, Erika Mann, German-language literature, historical dramas, and demanding auteur cinema will experience an evening of remarkable thematic density.

Screening at filmforum Duisburg

The filmforum in Duisburg City welcomes the audience in the atmosphere of a cinema palace from the 1950s, combining historical architecture with modern media technology. The screening begins at 20:00 and lasts around 90 minutes, including the approximately 82-minute film.

Admission on Monday costs 7.90 euros. The screening is approved for all ages. Entry and ticket information are available at the filmforum.

Conclusion: An evening about home, exile, and the power of literature

Fatherland makes Thomas Mann's return an urgent literary experience about memory, political appropriation, and the difficult search for belonging. The combination of historical research, nuanced acting, and Pawlikowski's concentrated visual language promises an extraordinary cinema evening at filmforum Duisburg. Those who want to not only read literary history but experience it atmospherically should witness this screening live.