Harun Farocki. Eye/thought/machine | Day 1. at the Narodowe Centrum Kultury Filmowej

As part of the Festival’s collaboration with the Narodowe Centrum Kultury Filmowej, an event will be held in memory of the eminent German director, film theorist and multimedia artist Harun Farocki. The year 2024 marks the tenth anniversary of his death, which provides an excellent opportunity to remind us of his extraordinary work and his contribution to the development of cinema, contemporary art and the audiovisual essay formula.

Schedule

14:30 Opening of the review and lecture

Official opening of the review of Harun Farocki’s films and works. The introduction will be led by Michael Baute, an expert on Farocki’s work.

15:00 Film screening: Inextinguishable Fire and Images of the World and the Inscription of War

A screening of two important films by Farocki that demonstrate his unique approach to analysing image production strategies and their operationalisation in the context of armed conflict.

17:00 Screening of the film Videograms of a Revolution

A screening of a film documenting the 1989 revolution in Romania, showing the role of the media in presenting historical events. The lecture will be given by Tomasz Poborca, film expert and curator of the NCKF cinema and curator of the Kino Wielu Kultur project within the Łódź of Many Cultures Festival.

19:15 Panel discussion “For comparison” + screening of audiovisual essays

A debate on the current state of the audiovisual essay in the world and in Poland. The panel will include film and media experts, film scholars, filmmakers and lecturers from the Film School in Łódź. The discussion will be accompanied by screenings of selected works.

Bio

Harun Farocki (1944-2014) was a pioneer of video essay, a genre that freely combines elements of documentary film with theoretical analysis and artistic reflection. His films, such as Images of the World and the Inscription of War (1988) and Videograms of a Revolution (1992), demonstrate his ability to combine archival objects with contemporary footage to create multi-layered, erudite narratives. The author’s work has often focused on analysing the mechanisms of surveillance and control of society, often combining themes from behind the scenes of the audiovisual industry and the apparatuses of state repression or technologies used by the military.

As a media theorist and university lecturer, Farocki has gained international recognition. His texts and essays are valued for their critical approach to visual culture. In his teaching activities, including at Harvard University, he has inspired successive generations of media creators and researchers by sharing his knowledge and experience. In 2013, he also visited Łódź, where he and Antje Ehmann were hosted by the Museum of Art in Łódź and participated in a special workshop.

Harun Farocki has left behind a rich cinematic oeuvre that constitutes a fundamental point of reference for contemporary reflection on the media. His works bear witness to his intellectual acumen and artistic sensitivity, which enabled him to effectively expose the hidden mechanisms of power in a society immersed in a stream of optical communication.

phot. Hertha Hurnaus, Harun Farocki, 2007.

Accompanying events

Harun Farocki. Eye/thought/machine | Day 2 at the Marek Edelman Dialogue Center in Łódź

• Co-organiser: Narodowe Centrum Kultury Filmowej
• Partners: Goethe Institut, Foundation for German-Polish Cooperation