Georg K. Glaser – Writer and Smith

Georg K. Glaser is a worker and writer. Quite literally. He spends the morning at his desk, from midday on he can be found at his workshop in the Parisian quarter Marais. There he produces bowls, lamps, vases, jugs and other metal work. He is proficient in metalworking techniques hardly anyone else can perform these days.

Born 1910 near Worms, Glaser ran away from home at an early age and went traveling; he was placed in reform institutions and joined the Communists. In 1933 he went underground and escaped via Saarland to France. There he became a naturalized citizen, worked for the national railroads, was conscripted in 1939 and soon found himself in German captivity. For years he had to pretend to be a Frenchman who could speak good German. After an escape and detention camp he returned to Paris and went to work for Renault. He found the work on the conveyor belt unbearable and inhuman. So almost 40 years ago now, Glaser started work as an artisan craftsman, expressing his criticism in thought and practice. He combines craftsmanship with writing and points to the French word for craftsman (artisan - where the syllable 'art' is not yet divorced from work).

(Harun Farocki)

Original title Georg K. Glaser – Schriststeller und Schmied Director, scriptwriter, commentary, interview Harun Farocki with quotations from Jenseits der Grenzen by Georg K. Glaser Cinematographer Ingo Kratisch Editor Rosa Mercedes, Klaus Klingler Negative cut Elke Granke Sound Klaus Klingler Mixing Gerhard Jensen-Nelson Narrator Harun Farocki (commentary), Georg K. Glaser (texts) Production Harun Farocki Filmproduktion, Berlin-West, for SWF, Baden-Baden Producer Harun Farocki TV-producer Ebbo Demant Format 16mm, Eastmancolor, col., 1:1,37 Length 44 min. First broadcast 20.09.1988, SWF 3