Nov 8 and 9, 7 pm

Harun Farocki (D)

Films on Work and Business

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November 8
The Presentation
1996 | video | color | sound | 39 min
Director: Harun Farocki, DOP: Ingo Kratisch, Rosa Mercedes (H.F.)
Production: Harun Farocki Filmproduktion for 3-sat

The Presentation treats the subject of an advertising agency in the throes of pitching a product as a theater piece, since the work of the advertising executive is a theatrical art. In staging their presentations, they not only discuss methods of selling the product, they sell the selling. (H.F.)

The Interview
1997 | video | color | sound | 58 min
Director: Harun Farocki, DOP: Ingo Kratisch, Bernd Löhr
Production: Harun Farocki Filmproduktion

School graduates, drop-outs, the retrained, the long-term unemployed, former drug addicts and middle managers—they all must learn how to present and sell themselves, which is why “self-management” was invented. In an interview, the whole human should reveal himself, not merely his measurable suitability for the job, which can be conveyed, in advance, on paper. It was Kafka who compared taking up a working relationship with the entry into God’s realm, and pointed out that the route to one is just as uncertain as to the other. (H.F.)

November 9
Not Without Risk
2004 |video | color | sound | 50 min
Director: Harun Farocki, DOP: Ingo Kratisch
Production: Harun Farocki Filmproduktion with WDR

This film explains what venture capital, or VC, is all about. Banks lend money only in return for collateral. Whoever doesn’t have the necessary collateral must turn to VC partnerships, and pay 40% interest for the privilege. We shot footage at a variety of companies, of VC partnerships discussing projects, of companies trying to formulate an idea, and consultants practicing their presentations. Then we concentrated on a single negotiation which took place in the space of two days. (H.F.)

The Creators of the Shopping Worlds
2001 | video | b/w and color | sound | 70 min
Director: Harun Farocki, DOP: Ingo Kratisch, Rosa Mercedes (H.F.)
Production: Harun Farocki Filmproduktion with SWR, NRD, WDR

Shopping is part of everyday culture, a matter of course, unavoidable. Everyone is familiar with this experience and with the way a contemporary shopping mall looks. The fact that this is taken for granted is the result of a highly complex process. There are consulting firms, relaunch analysts and laboratories which investigate where the customer’s glance alights or how to trigger a “spontaneous” purchase. (Antje Ehmann)