Traces of Avant-garde documentary in Harun Farocki cinema

Since its inception, documentary cinema has stood out for its function of recording reality. Over time, it has undergone various intellectual and aesthetic transformations, evolving into diverse narrative forms. Particularly under the influence of avant-garde art movements in the 20th century, the boundaries of traditional documentary practices have been blurred, giving rise to narratives characterized by formal experimentation, political criticism, and critical approaches to processes of representation. In this context, the avant-garde documentary has developed a subjective, experimental, and critical language that challenges the objective and didactic approach of conventional documentaries and reconstructs the audience's perception of reality. One of the leading figures of avant-garde documentary, Harun Farocki, stands out in this transformation with his experimental techniques and critical perspective. This study examines selected films by Farocki within the framework of key features of avant-garde documentary such as formal experimentation, political critique, and the reconstruction of reality. Employing qualitative methods, the study uses document analysis to evaluate the films in terms of both form and content. Based on the findings obtained, the study aims to reveal Farocki's contributions to avant-garde documentary cinema and contribute to the existing literature in the field.