Thomas Henke's films are an experimental and radical exploration of the format of the cinematic portrait. He shows people in existential situations: in the face of injustice, powerlessness, suffering and death; in search of refuge, a means of expression, insight and redemption. Henke's portraits and the films he makes together with his wife Peggy Henke question traditional practices of documentary filmmaking and the notion of singular authorship. They produce and examine medial constructions of reality and illuminate processes of self-narration. With an experimental approach to production and presentation through the use of performative, social and architectural strategies, Henke's films rupture the surface and open up a Cinema Altera, an alternative cinema that stands for itself.
This comprehensive publication brings together texts by numerous well-known authors and is illustrated with a wealth of film and video installations from the past 25 years.