Ewa Puszczyńska on 'Fatherland' as Poland’s film boom
Get the Culture newsletter
Daily culture — film, music, books, the trends and ideas worth your attention. Free.
- Ewa Puszczyńska produced Paweł Pawlikowski's Cannes competition title "Fatherland", which premiered at the Grand Théâtre Lumière on May 14 and received a six‑minute ovation.
- Fatherland is a German‑language film set in summer 1949, following Nobel laureate Thomas Mann (Hanns Zischler) and his daughter Erika (Sandra Hüller) on a road trip across a divided Germany.
- Fatherland production lasted 39 days, shooting across multiple locations in Poland and Germany, with a Polish crew that Puszczyńska describes as “really well organized.”
- Ewa Puszczyńska has previously produced Pawlikowski's Oscar‑winning film "Ida" (2013) and the triple‑Oscar‑nominated "Cold War," as well as other international projects like David Lynch’s "Inland Empire," Jonathan Glazer’s "The Zone of Interest," and Jesse Eisenberg’s "A Real Pain."
- Polish Film Institute offers a 30% tax credit, which Puszczyńska says helped Polish producers move from minority productions to international ones.
- Ewa Puszczyńska is planning two upcoming projects: a Japanese‑Polish‑Canadian co‑production "Idiot Son," inspired by novelist Kenzaburō Ōe, and an unnamed Yiddish‑language film currently at the script stage.
- Ewa Puszczyńska emphasizes choosing projects that resonate personally, stating that language does not matter as long as the story is contemporary and culturally relevant.
Why it matters: The acclaim for 'Fatherland' showcases how Poland’s 30% tax credit and seasoned producers like Puszczyńska are enabling local crews to secure high‑budget, multilingual projects, boosting the country’s cinematic reputation, creating jobs for Polish talent, and attracting further international co‑productions in the global market.
