Abstract

While research on Sebald's work has covered the intermedial relations in his writing between writing and ‘motionless’ pictures (photographs as well as paintings), the influence of film upon the realization of his texts has been neglected. How do filmic notions figure in Sebald's major novel “Austerlitz” and the stories “The Emigrants” and “Vertigo”? Sebald's review of Hanns Zischler's documentation on Kafka going to the movies may serve as a starting-point. Of special interest are documentary works that relate to Sebald's absorbing search for historical truth. He was also interested in feature films made by famous German directors, such as Fritz Lang and Werner Herzog.