R.I.P. Harun Farocki

July 31, 2014 12:51 PM

Legendary experimental filmmaker Harun Farocki, whose films and installations critiqued institutions of power and explored complicated relationships with the image, passed away yesterday at the age of 70.

Official site. At Film Studies For Free.

posted by AtoBtoA (4 comments total)

. "Images of War (at a Distance)" is one of the best video installations I've ever seen.
posted by raisindebt at 1:07 PM on July 31, 2014

Critics first took notice of Farocki with Inextinguishable Fire (1969), an agit-prop film pamphlet concerning the West’s involvement in Vietnam and the vicious effects of napalm. Rough around the edges, the film opens with the director himself, sitting at a table in a bare room, all alone, reading the testimony of a napalm victim. There are no images to shock the audience. “If we show you an image of napalm injuries, you will close your eyes. First you will close your eyes to the pictures. Then you will close your eyes to the memory. Then you will close your eyes to the facts. Then you will close your eyes to the entire context,” Farocki plainly states. Then, looking straight into the lens—right at the viewer—Farocki stubs a cigarette out on his forearm. This turns out to be much more than an introduction. It’s a manifesto, a promise of continued engagement with the nature of the moving image that will become the overriding theme in Farocki’s work.

That is the most punk rock thing ever.

I've never even heard of this guy, but now I know I want to see his work as soon as possible.
posted by Frowner at 1:08 PM on July 31, 2014 [3 favorites]

Gah. I'm realizing now how many of those Film Studies For Free links go nowhere.

Here's some of the Senses of Cinema Articles: An Introduction. Nine Minutes in the Yard: A Conversation with Harun Farocki.
The Green of the Grass: Harun Farocki in Filmkritik.

Jonathan Rosenbaum: A Road Not Taken. Remaking History [on SHULIE].

Towards an Archive for Visual Concepts.
posted by AtoBtoA at 1:28 PM on July 31, 2014 [1 favorite]

At Our Expense: Harun Farocki's Images at War

Harun Farocki - Arbeiter verlassen di Fabrik (Workers leaving the factory) 1995

Labour in a Single Shot, Antje Ehmann and Harun Farocki

Speaking about Godard, Kaja Silverman and Harun Farocki

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posted by whyareyouatriangle at 3:15 PM on July 31, 2014 [2 favorites]