Harun Farocki was born in 1944 in German-annexed Czechoslovakia. From 1966 to 1968 he attended the Deutsche Film- und Fernsehakademie Berlin (DFFB). In addition to teaching posts in Berlin, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Manila, Munich and Stuttgart, he was a visiting professor at the University of California, Berkeley.
Farocki made more than 120 films, including three feature films, essay films and documentaries. He was writing for numerous publications and from 1974 to 1984 he was editor and author of the magazine Filmkritik (München). He published a book titled Speaking about Godard / Von Godard sprechen, New York / Berlin (with Kaja Silverman).
He was a full professor at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna.
Harun Farocki died in 2014, at the age of 70.