To Harun Farocki writing was inextricably linked with his cinematic works his work on the
concept of the image always involved a translation from the image to the text and vice versa.
The autobiography from his estate which has now been published constitutes a great exception
in his oeuvre: Farocki was not able to complete it he died in July 2014. We here have a work
which has remained unfinished in itself-but precisely this makes this autobiography so
fascinating. It portrays his tragic childhood Farocki's escape to West Berlin the fortune of
having discovered film although he wanted to become a writer his turning to outsiderism his
radicalism of thought his vision his power of observation the growing ability to analyze
social structures the politicization of life. In his autobiography Farocki adopts the
attitude of the filmmaker he is not only a critical reader of his own life but also of the
current events which form the backdrop of the entire narrative.
