Born in Halberstadt, Germany, in 1932, Kluge initially trained as a lawyer but soon shifted his focus to literature and cinema. His work as legal counsel at the Institute for Social Research in Frankfurt connected him with Theodor Adorno, the renowned social philosopher who became a mentor. Kluge’s journey into film began in 1958 when he worked as an assistant to legendary director Fritz Lang.
In 1962, Kluge became a signatory of the Oberhausen Manifesto, which called for a new wave of German cinema. He became a central figure in the movement, which laid the foundation for the works of filmmakers like Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Werner Herzog, and Wim Wenders.
Kluge’s first major film, Abschied von Gestern (1966), known as Yesterday Girl in the U.S., is often regarded as the starting point of New German Cinema. The experimental film, which explores the journey of a Jewish East German refugee, won the Silver Lion at the Venice Film Festival.
His 1968 film, The Artists in the Big Top: Perplexed, won the Golden Lion at Venice and critiqued the protest movements of the era.
Throughout his career, Kluge earned numerous accolades, including the George Büchner Prize and the Heinrich Böll Prize. His final work, Primitive Diversity, was a visual essay about artificial intelligence and its impact on cinema, reflecting Kluge’s ongoing innovation in filmmaking.
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