1949 (film)

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1949 is an upcoming biographical drama directed by Paweł Pawlikowski. It’s based on Colm Tóibín’s 2021 novel The Magician and follows exiled German writer Thomas Mann and his daughter Erika on a road trip across Germany during the Cold War.

Premise
In the Cold War era, Thomas Mann and Erika Mann travel from West Germany to East Germany, reflecting on culture, politics, and their own family history.

Cast
- Hanns Zischler as Thomas Mann
- Sandra Hüller as Erika Mann
- August Diehl
- Anna Madeley
- Devid Striesow
- Theo Trebs
- Joanna Kulig (joined in 2025)

Production
- Director: Paweł Pawlikowski; screenplay co-written with Hendrik Handloegten.
- Based on The Magician by Colm Tóibín.
- First project under a three-year co-production/financing/distribution agreement between Mubi and Our Films.
- 2025 funding: Hessen Film Fund (€200,000), Polish Film Institute (41.6 million PLN), Eurimages (€150,000), and Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg.

Filming
- Shot in black-and-white; cinematography by Łukasz Żal.
- Principal photography began August 13, 2025, in Legnica, Poland, then moved to Bielsko-Biała, Cieszyn, and Warsaw.
- Later phases took place in Weimar (Germany) at sites including the Deutsches Nationaltheater und Staatskapelle Weimar and Goethe’s Gartenhaus, and in Wrocław and Wałbrzych (Poland).
- Filming lasted about 38 days.
- Production design aimed to recreate the Thomas Mann House in Los Angeles; costumes designed by Aleksandra Staszko; extras’ costumes sourced from Berlin, Łódź, and Warsaw.

Music
- Score by Marcin Masecki, who previously collaborated with Pawlikowski on Ida and Cold War.

Release
- The premiere is planned for 2027.