Foreign Tongue
Saturday, November 14th, at 3:00pm
82 mins | 2026 | Poland, Germany, Italy, France
Dir: Paweł Pawlikowski
Language: German, English, French, Russian
Foreign Tongue
In the summer of 1949, Nobel Prize-winning writer Thomas Mann (Hanns Zischler) returns to Germany after sixteen years in exile. Accompanied by his daughter Erika (Sandra Hüller, Anatomy of a Fall, NBFF23), an actress, writer, and rally driver, Mann embarks on an emotional journey across a homeland he scarcely recognizes.
Travelling together in a black Buick from American-controlled Frankfurt to Soviet-controlled Weimar, father and daughter confront a country still scarred by the Second World War and divided by the emerging Cold War. For Mann, the journey is far more than a homecoming. As he navigates the political tensions of a divided nation, he must also face the deep fractures within his own family.
Academy Award-winning filmmaker Paweł Pawlikowski (Ida, Cold War) brings his distinctive visual style to this intimate historical drama, exploring themes of family, identity, guilt, and belonging against the turbulent backdrop of postwar Europe. Winner of the Best Director prize at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival, Fatherland marks another acclaimed work from Pawlikowski, whose previous film Cold War screened as part of North Bay Film’s programming in 2019.
Screening With:
The Fruit Machine: A Space Opera
Canadian Showcase
When a queer little space alien crashes to earth and looks for survival tips, she finds what she needs on television, a ready-made guide to the ins and outs of 20th century conformity. This tale is set against the true history of the Fruit Machine, a test for aberrant sexuality developed by the Canadian government in the 1960s.
6 Mins 14s
Canada, 2025
Dir. Lorri Millan, Shawna Dempsey
Language: English