19/05/2026 - CANNES 2026: Volker Schlöndorff’s latest film is a historical epic that is both meticulously crafted and tenderly intimate, centring on a lakeside holiday home over the course of nearly a century

Presented in the Cannes Première section, Visitation is one of the jewels of the 79th Cannes Film Festival, directed by Volker Schlöndorff, one of the leading figures of the New German Cinema movement of the 1960s, who has been active for seven decades now. In fact, there were two of them in the theatre during the gala screening, as Wim Wenders was in the audience, applauding his friend’s latest work.

Based on the 2008 novel by Jenny Erpenbeck, Visitation spans almost a century of German history, beginning in the early 1930s and concluding around the time of the novel’s publication. The setting is a peacefully idyllic lakeside spot just east of Berlin, sold by a farmer to two buyers, both of whom build summer houses there. One is an architect and admirer of Albert Speer, who constructs an elaborate Bauhaus-like residence for himself and his mistress, complete with a sophisticated wardrobe containing a hidden compartment that may later save a life. The other is a Jewish cloth merchant, who opts for a more quaint design for his family — his wife, son, daughter-in-law and granddaughter. When the Nazis come to power, the merchant is pressured into selling the property to the architect at a dirt-cheap price, with little choice but to accept. War breaks out, the merchant’s family is deported by train, the architect is sent to the Eastern Front, and, not long afterwards, Soviet troops storm in — at which point the wardrobe’s hidden compartment proves particularly useful.

As the newly formed GDR becomes a reality, the architect and his mistress flee west, and a family of staunchly Communist intellectuals moves in, once again consisting of a husband, wife, son, daughter-in-law and granddaughter — the latter serving as the story’s narrator. As the 1960s pass, the idyllic calm gradually re-establishes itself, and, thanks to strong Party connections, the family enjoys exclusive access to the house, at least until the fall of the Berlin Wall, when capitalism arrives hand in hand with a growing sense of melancholy. Ultimately, the film is about history and its relentless intrusion into ordinary lives, even in this seemingly placid corner of the world.

A lovingly intimate work, Visitation often feels like a gathering of friends both on and off screen. A wealth of German acting talent spanning several generations graces the film, including many familiar faces from the director’s extensive body of work: Susanne Wolff, Ulrich Mattes, Angela Winckler (from The Lost Honour of Katharina Blum) and David Bennent (from the Palme d’Or-winning The Tin Drum), to just name a few,. Particularly outstanding are Martina Gedeck, Lars Eidinger (as a slightly less despicable pro-Nazi guy than in Moulin, competing at this very festival this year) and Wigand Witting (also from The Tin Drum). The real star of the film may well be the summer house itself, originally owned by… Albert Einstein. Truth, at times, really is stranger — and greater — than fiction.

As for the architect behind the elaborate creation that is Visitation, the 87-year-old Volker Schlöndorff proves himself every bit as formidable as his reputation suggests: a sturdy bumblebee of German cinema, fully aware that he can fly, and seemingly taking the greatest pleasure in doing so.

Visitation is a German production by Ziegler Film, in co-production with Volksfilm, StudioCanal, Studio Babelsberg and Mideu Films. StudioCanal also handles international sales.