A touch of Cannes is coming to the Dubrovnik Riviera this June. Oscar-winning Polish director Paweł Pawlikowski returns to Slano Film Days with his latest film, Fatherland, which received the Best Director award at the recently concluded Cannes Film Festival.
After its world premiere in Cannes, Fatherland will have its Croatian premiere in Slano, bringing one of this year’s most talked-about European films to the intimate setting of the open-air cinema Villa Riva. The screening is scheduled for Friday, June 19, and admission will be free of charge.
A Cannes Film Under the Slano Sky
Pawlikowski is no stranger to Slano Film Days. A regular guest and close friend of the event, he now returns with a film that has already made a strong impression on the international festival scene.
Fatherland is described as an intimate, visually sumptuous black-and-white elegy centred on the relationship between German writer Thomas Mann and his daughter Erika Mann. Set during a journey through devastated post-war Germany at the beginning of the Cold War, the film uses a deeply personal family story to explore a much broader question: what remains of European identity after historical rupture, exile and moral collapse.
The film also topped Screen International’s 2026 Cannes Jury Grid among films in the main competition, adding further weight to its arrival in Slano.
Film Talks and European Cinema by the Sea
Alongside the screening of Fatherland, Pawlikowski will take part in a Film Talk with regional participants of Slano Film Days. The conversation will be moderated by Ruben Östlund, one of Europe’s most prominent contemporary filmmakers and a two-time winner of the Palme d’Or.
The programme will also include a screening of Pawlikowski’s acclaimed film Cold War, which earned him the Best Director award at Cannes and three Oscar nominations. Polish actress Joanna Kulig, internationally recognised for her leading role in Cold War, will also be among this year’s guests in Slano, where she will speak about her long-standing collaboration with Pawlikowski and her international career.
Östlund will present a selection of his short films, while his chosen documentary, Death of a Fantastic Machine by Axel Danielson and Maximilien Van Aertryck, will also be screened. He will also take part in a Film Talk about his creative process and his upcoming film The Entertainment System Is Down, starring Keanu Reeves, Kirsten Dunst and Daniel Brühl.
Slano as a Small Place for Big Film Encounters
The third edition of Slano Film Days will take place from June 16 to 20, bringing together emerging regional filmmakers and major international names from the world of cinema. Set in the quiet coastal atmosphere of Slano, just outside Dubrovnik, the event has quickly become more than a summer film programme. It is a meeting place for conversation, mentorship and cinema watched under the open sky.
With Pawlikowski, Östlund and Kulig among this year’s guests, Slano once again confirms that some of the most meaningful film encounters can happen far from red carpets and large festival crowds, in places where cinema still feels personal, close and alive.
