In a couple of weeks, the Polish filmmaker Pavel Pawlikowski’s new film ‘Fatherland’ will be released, in theaters only. It’s the story of Thomas Mann and his daughter Erika traveling together through Germany in the years immediately after the end of the Second World War. I don’t exactly rush out to most movies, preferring to wait and see how much interest I have after waiting a few weeks until either the praise or criticism calms down–but I will certainly be seeing ‘Fatherland’ on its opening day. That’s because Pawlikowski’s last film, ‘Cold War’ (2018) is by far my favorite film of the last ten–and possibly twenty–years. ‘Cold War’ is the story of two lovers who escape 1950s Poland and head for Paris with results that are ultimately…well, see it for yourself. In fact, that’s the reason I’m writing about the film today. I urge you to see it prior to ‘Fatherland’s’ release as the two appear to be linked by theme and time period. Anyway, I won’t oversell ‘Cold War’ any more than I already have. I’ll leave you with this, though; in my role as Chair of the Directors Guild’s Special Projects committee, I often am asked to host screenings and do interviews with the directors of the given movie afterwards. In the twenty years I’ve been tasked (happily) with heading the committee, I’ve only ever agreed to do this with three directors. Sidney Lumet (in 2003), Martin Scorcese (last year) and this coming November, when we’ll be screening ‘Fatherland’ with Pawlikowski in attendance.