Having spearheaded the bourgeoning Nouvelle Vague scene in the late 1950s and developed a distinctive style involving still images, Chris Marker stands among the most influential filmmakers of the postwar era. This study includes interviews with the director and investigates his core themes and motivations.
Focusing on Harun Farocki's innovative approach to media, this analysis delves into his diverse works and writings, exploring the thematic and experimental dimensions of his art. It offers fresh insights into his contributions across various platforms, highlighting the significance of his unique perspective in contemporary media discourse.
Nora M. Alter argues that the essay film is a hybrid genre that fuses three major categories of film: feature, art, and documentary. Much like the written essay, its literary predecessor, the essay film draws on a variety of forms and approaches, fundamentally altering the shape of cinema. Alter traces the essay film's origins to early silent cinema, charting the genre's evolution with the advent of sound, its emergence as a recognized category of film in the postwar period, and the ways the genre developed in the later twentieth century. In addition to exploring the broader history of the essay film, Alter discusses the work of artists including Robert Smithson, Martha Rosler, Isaac Julien, John Akomfrah, Harun Farocki, and Hito Steyerl.
This groundbreaking book is an incisive and comprehensive analysis of Harun Farocki’s oeuvre, shedding new light on his media experimentation and writings across platforms and venues.