Harun Farocki
Harun Farocki (1944–2014, born in Czech Republic) was a German filmmaker, media artist, writer and critic. He studied at the Deutsche Film‑ und Fernsehakademie Berlin (DFFB) between 1966 and 1968 and produced over 120 films, essays and installations. Farocki’s work frequently dissects the mechanisms of images, exploring themes such as the militarization of vision, labor under capitalism, automation and propaganda. His precise, essayistic filmmaking makes visible the structures behind perception and power.
A spiritual sequel to the Lumière brothers’ iconic 1895 film, Harun Farocki’s Arbeiter verlassen die Fabrik traces how the image of workers exiting factories has persisted—and evolved—through cinema’s history.
In Was ist los? Harun Farocki dissects media narratives and televised imagery in reunified Germany, exposing how everyday broadcasts shape public perception, ideology, and the construction of “reality.”
Gegen-Musik, originally intended as a two-screen installation, sees Harun Farocki examine surveillance footage, exposing how the interplay of image and sound structures perception, authority, and control.
