Harun Farocki (9 January 1944 – 30 July 2014) was a German filmmaker, author, and lecturer in film.

Early life and education

Farocki was born as Harun El Usman FaroqhiMargalit Fox (3 August 2014)

''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

''. in Neutitschein, which is now Nový Jičín in the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

. His father, Abdul Qudus Faroqui, had immigrated to Germany from

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

in the 1920s. His German mother had been evacuated from

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitu ...

due to the

Allied bombing of Germany World War II (1939–1945) involved sustained strategic bombing of railways, harbours, cities, workers' and civilian housing, and industrial districts in enemy territory. Strategic bombing as a military strategy is distinct both from close ...

. He simplified the spelling of his surname as a young man. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

Farocki grew up in India and

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Gui ...

before the family resettled in Hamburg in 1958. Farocki, who was deeply influenced by

Bertolt Brecht Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known professionally as Bertolt Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a p ...

and

Jean-Luc Godard Jean-Luc Godard ( , ; ; 3 December 193013 September 2022) was a French-Swiss film director, screenwriter, and film critic. He rose to prominence as a pioneer of the French New Wave film movement of the 1960s, alongside such filmmakers as Fran ...

, studied at the German Film and Television Academy Berlin (dffb) from 1966 to 1968. He began making films – from the very beginning, they were non-narrative essays on the politics of imagery – in the mid-1960s. From 1974 to 1984, when its publication ceased, he edited the magazine '' Filmkritik''. From 1993 to 1999, Farocki taught at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant un ...

. He later was a professor at the

Academy of Fine Arts Vienna The Academy of Fine Arts Vienna (german: link=no, Akademie der bildenden Künste Wien) is a public art school in Vienna, Austria. History The Academy of Fine Arts Vienna was founded in 1692 as a private academy modelled on the Accademia di Sa ...

. He died unexpectedly on 30 July 2014, aged 70.

Work

He made over 90 films, the vast majority of them short experimental

documentaries A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". Bill Nichols has characterized the documentary in term ...

. In his 2000-2003 three-part installation, ''Eye/Machine'', Farocki coined the term " operational image". Farocki's work was included in the 2004–05

Carnegie International The Carnegie International is a North American exhibition of contemporary art from around the globe. It was first organized at the behest of industrialist and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie on November 5, 1896 in Pittsburgh. Carnegie establishe ...

at the

Carnegie Museum of Art The Carnegie Museum of Art, is an art museum in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Originally known as the Department of Fine Arts, Carnegie Institute and was at what is now the Main Branch of the Carnegie Library of Pittsbu ...

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. A first major UK retrospective of his films was held at

Tate Modern Tate Modern is an art gallery located in London. It houses the United Kingdom's national collection of international modern and contemporary art, and forms part of the Tate group together with Tate Britain, Tate Liverpool and Tate St Ives. It ...

in 2009. The 2011 exhibition "Harun Farocki: Images of War (at a Distance)" at the

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of t ...

was the first comprehensive solo exhibition of Farocki's work in a U.S. museum.

Films (selection)

(D = Director, E = Editor, S = Screenplay, P = Production, A = Actor) *1969: ''Die Worte des Vorsitzenden'' - The Words of The Chairman *1969: ''Nicht löschbares Feuer - Inextinguishable Fire'' (Short, D) *1970: Die Teilung aller Tage - The Division of All Days (D, E, S) *1971: ''Eine Sache, die sich versteht'' (D, S, P) *1975: ''Auf Biegen oder Brechen'' (S) *1978: ''Zwischen zwei Kriegen'' (''Between Two Wars'') (D, E, S, P) - Himself / Narrator *1979: ''Ich räume auf'' (A) - Herausgeber *1980: ''Henry Angst'' (A) *1981: ''Etwas wird sichtbar'' (A) *1981: ''Etwas wird sichtbar - Before Your Eyes Vietnam'' (D, S, P) *1983: ''Ein Bild - An Image'' *1983: ''

Jean-Marie Straub Jean-Marie is both a given name and a surname. Notable people with the name include: * Jean-Marie Abgrall (born 1950), a French psychiatrist, criminologist, specialist in forensic medicine, cult expert, and graduate in criminal law * Jean-Marie ...

and Danièle Huillet (at work on Franz Kafka's "Amerika") *1984: ''

Klassenverhältnisse ', known in English as ''Class Relations'', in French as ', is a 1984 film by the French filmmaking duo of Jean-Marie Straub and Danièle Huillet. It is based on Franz Kafka's unfinished first novel, '' Amerika''. The German filmmaker Harun Far ...

'' ( Straub-Huillet's) (A) - Delamarche *1985: ''Betrogen'' (''Betrayed'') (D, S) *1986: ''Wie man sieht'' (''As You See'') (D, S, P) *1987: ''Bilderkrieg'' (D) *1987: ''Die Schulung'' *1989: ''Bilder der Welt und Inschrift des Krieges'' (''Images of the World and the Inscription of War'') (D, S, P) *1990: ''Leben: BRD - How to live in the Federal Republic of Germany'' (D, S, P) *1991: ''Videogramme einer Revolution'' (''

Videograms of a Revolution ''Videograms of a Revolution'' is a 1992 documentary film compiled by Harun Farocki and Andrei Ujică from over 125 hours of amateur footage, news footage, and excerpts from the Bucharest TV studio overtaken by demonstrators as part of the Decem ...

'') (D, S, P) *1993: ''Was ist los? - What's up?'' (D, S) *1994: ''Die Umschulung'' *1995: ''Arbeiter verlassen die Fabrik'' (''Workers Leaving the Factory'') *1995: ''Schnittstelle'' *1996: ''Die Bewerbung - The Interview'' (TV) (D, S) *1996: ''Der Auftritt - The Appearance'' *1997: ''Stilleben - Still Life'' (D, S) *1997: ''Nach dem Spiel'' (P) *1998: ''Worte und Spiele'' *2000: ''Die innere Sicherheit - The State I Am In'' (S) *2000: ''Gefängnisbilder'' (''Prison Images'') (D, S) *2001: ''Auge/Maschine'' *2001: ''Die Schöpfer der Einkaufswelten - The Creators of the Shopping Worlds'' (D, S) *2003: ''Erkennen und Verfolgen'' (D, S, P) *2004: ''Nicht ohne Risiko'' (D, S, P) *2005: ''Die Hochzeitsfabrik (P) *2005: ''

Ghosts A ghost is the soul or spirit of a dead person or animal that is believed to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to re ...

'' (S) *2006: ''Am Rand der Städte'' (P) *2007: ''Aufschub'' *2007: ''Respite - first episode of Memories'' (Jeonju Digital Project 2007) *2009: ''Zum Vergleich'' (D, S) *2009-2010: ''Serious Games I-IV'' Video series *2012: '' Barbara'' (S) *2014: ''

Phoenix Phoenix most often refers to: * Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore * Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States Phoenix may also refer to: Mythology Greek mythological figures * Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...

'' (S)

DVD

''Images of the world and the inscription of war'' and ''Respite'' were released on

Region 0 DVD region codes are a digital rights management technique introduced in 1997. It is designed to allow rights holders to control the international distribution of a DVD release, including its content, release date, and price, all according to ...

DVD on 7 June 2011 by Survivance.

Personal life

Farocki's first wife, Ursula Lefkes, whom he married in 1966, died in 1996. His survivors include his second wife, Antje Ehmann, whom he married in 2001; twin daughters from his first marriage, Annabel Lee and Larissa Lu; and eight grandchildren.

References

External links

Harun Farocki Official site
*
Harun Farocki
in the

Video Data Bank Video Data Bank (VDB) is an international video art distribution organization and resource in the United States for videos by and about contemporary artists. Located in Chicago, Illinois, VDB was founded at the School of the Art Institute of Chic ...

'Harun Farocki. Empathy', Exhibition at Fundació Antoni Tàpies, Barcelona

Vídeo of the talk by Antje Ehmann about the Harun Farocky's work 'Labour in a Single Shot' at Fundació Antoni Tàpies museum, Barcelona, 2016

Academic articles

Embodied histories. Harun Farocki and Andrei Ujică's Videograms of a Revolution.

Pantenburg, Volker: ''Farocki/Godard: Film as Theory''. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press 2015.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Farocki, Harun 1944 births 2014 deaths People from Nový Jičín Indian people of German descent german experimental filmmakers German documentary filmmakers German people of Indian descent Moravian-German people