Actress Sandra Hüller on Playing Erika Mann in «The Fatherland» and the Responsibility of Artists

German actress Sandra Hüller, who has gained international recognition in recent years through roles in «Anatomy of a Fall» and «The Zone of Interest», gave an interview at the Cannes Film Festival this May about her work in «Fatherland», a film by Polish director Pawel Pawlikowski. The film earned its director the Cannes award for best direction. Hüller plays Erika Mann, a journalist, publicist and actress who was the daughter of the writer Thomas Mann.

The story

The film is set in 1949, when Thomas Mann (played by Hanns Zischler) returns to his native Germany after 11 years away. The writer is accompanied by his elder daughter and secretary Erika. Before the family moved to the United States, she had staged an anti-fascist cabaret and been married to the actor Gustaf Gründgens. When Gründgens aligned himself with the Nazis, the couple separated.

The role and the director

Hüller says that while preparing she read Erika's letters, but did not want to go deep into biography, since the film is not a biopic in the classic sense. In her view, Erika was added to the script later because her personality is hard to bypass. The actress praises Pawlikowski's care with staging and framing, and notes that he directs the whole space, not just the foreground of the shot.

Art, politics and education

In the conversation Hüller stresses that society will always expect certain standards of conduct from artists and intellectuals. In her opinion, art endures regardless of ideologies, yet an artist cannot be fully separated from his work. Born in East Germany, she recalls visiting the Buchenwald concentration camp with her school as a child, and says that awareness has stayed with her ever since.

Besides film, Hüller continues to work in theatre in Germany. This year she also appears in «Project Hail Mary» and «Digger», and won her second Silver Bear at the Berlinale for the drama «Rose».