Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Director Michael Glawogger dies unexpectedly, leaves behind great works on globalization

In a bizarre turn of events, renowned Austrian documentarian Michael Glawogger suddenly died today of malaria while filming on location in Liberia. He died far too young and early into his career, but he leaves us with a number of quality films exploring hazardous products of globalization, from slum living to prostitution.

It's difficult to mourn properly a filmmaker whose career had only yet begun, but Glawogger's untimely death should not overshadow the significance of his completed works. We have two of the director's films in our collection – Whores' Glory and Workingman's Death – and we highly recommend watching them.

It is unclear if Glawogger's final project will see the light of day, but we have no doubt that he leaves a body of work that will enter, as the chief of the Austrian Film Institute puts it, "the canon of world cinema."

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