Franz had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival (4 – 14 September 2025) and it will run in the main competition of the Polish Film Festival (PFF, 22 - 27 September 2025) in Gdynia.
It was mostly shot in Prague and is focused on the young Franz Kafka (played by German actor Idan Weiss), a young man struggling with bureaucracy, relationships and anxieties. The cast includes Czech actors Jenovéfa Boková, Ivan Trojan, and Josef Trojan, as well as German actor Peter Kurth and Polish actress Sandra Korzeniak, among others. Marek Espstein and Agnieszka Holland penned the script.
Marlene Film Production produced the film in coproduction with Metro Films, X Filme Creative Pool, the Polish Television, the Czech Television, ZDF/ARTE, Canal+ Polska, Barrandov Studio, Czech Anglo Productions, BAC Films, NeoSynCon.
Eurimages, the Polish Film Institute, the Czech Audiovisual Fund, the Prague Audiovisual Fund, the Czech Ministry of Environment, the regional film offices of the Pilsen and Ústí Labem regions, Medienboard Berlin – Brandenburg, Volapuk, Bluetech, CPP Vienna Insurance Group, New Motion, SProAlfa, and Quadrio supported the film.
Holland is a three-time Oscar nominee for Angry Harvest / Bittere Ernte in 1986 representing West Germany, Europa, Europa, a coproduction between Germany and France in 1991, and In Darkness / W ciemności, produced by Poland’s Studio Filmowe Zebra, and coproduced by Canada’s Hidden Films Inc. and Germanty’s Schmidtz Katze Filmkollektiv GmbH, in 2012.
The shortlist in the international film category will be unveiled on 16 December 2025, followed by the nominations on 22 January, and the 98th annual award of the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on 15 March 2026.
