still War at a Distance (Erkennen und Verfolgen) (Harun Farocki, DE 2003)

Farocki / Fast Night

Harun Farocki was a master in using footage from security cameras, automated drones and aerial photography – non-human perspectives in contrast to life at a human scale – that Omer Fast also shoots films about. Surveillance double bill followed by a Q&A.

The programme accompanying the premiere of Stranger Eyes was compiled by Dr Francesco Ragazzi, Associate Professor in International Relations at the Institute of Political Science at Leiden University.

Programme

5.000 Feet is the Best (Omer Fast, 2011, 30')
5.000 Feet is the Best is based on two meetings with a Predator drone operator shot at a hotel in Las Vegas in 2010. The drone operator agreed to discuss the technical aspects of his work and daily routine on camera. Off camera and off the record, he described incidents whereby UAVs shot both insurgents and civilians as well as the psychological problems this led to.
War at a Distance (Harun Farocki, 2003, 58')
In 1991, when Gulf War footage flooded the international media, it was virtually impossible to see the difference between real and computer-generated images. This threatened to change the way we decipher what we see forever. Footage is no longer used as evidence, but is also an indispensable link in the production and destruction chain, Farocki claims in War at a Distance.

Using archival and original footage Farocki reveals the relationship between military strategy and industrial production. Highlighting how military technology is used in daily life.