An imaginative and compelling cinematic portrait of Franz Kafka by acclaimed director Agnieszka Holland. Franz weaves together reality, dreams, and fantasy to explore the inner world of a writer who was far ahead of his time—and who still speaks to our deepest fears and desires.
Wednesday, March 25, 7 PM | TICKETS - SOLD OUT
Franz / dir. Agnieszka Holland / 2025 / mysterious biographical drama / Czechia, Germany, Poland / German and Czech with English subtitles / 127 min
In Franz, Holland crafts an intimate, visually rich portrait of Franz Kafka, drawing on fragments of memory, letters, and imagination. The film captures Kafka as a man of contradictions—introverted yet intense, longing for an ordinary life while creating some of the most extraordinary works of modern literature.
Tracing his path from childhood in Prague through strained family relationships, a deep friendship with Max Brod, and complex love affairs with Felice Bauer and Milena Jesenská, the film moves toward Kafka’s final years in Austria after World War I. Poetic, ironic, and occasionally darkly playful, Franz offers a human, resonant portrait of an artist who never stopped searching for himself.
Director: Agnieszka Holland / Screenplay: Marek Epstein, Agnieszka Holland / Cinematography: Tomasz Naumiuk / Editing: Pavel Hrdlička / Music: Mary Komasa, Antoni Komasa Łazarkiewicz / Producers: Šárka Cimbalová (Marlene Film Production), Agnieszka Holland
Cast: Idan Weiss, Jenovéfa Boková, Peter Kurth, Katharina Stark, Ivan Trojan, Josef Trojan, Sandra Korzeniak, Carol Schuler, Jan Budař, Emma Smetana, Sebastian Schwarz, Aaron Friesz, Gesa Schermuly, Václav Jiráček, Karel Dobrý, Vladimír Javorský, Stanislav Majer, Anita Krausová, Michal Isteník, Milan Šteindler, and others
Presented by the Czech Center New York with with the support of the Polish Cultural Institute New York, the German Film Office, EUNIC New York, and the Bohemian Benevolent and Literary Association.
