Film can harness the written word. Film can transform the written word. Georg Bense has proven this with his filmic interpretations of texts by Max Bense, Claus Bremer and Franz Kafka. He formed, together with Hansjörg Mayer and Rainer Wössner, the Filmarbeitsteam (FAT) in Stuttgart. It is not vague imitations or naive illustrations of literature that makes their short films stand out, but rather an intense occupation with language and structure. The films were rarely shown, even around the time they were made—end of the 1950s/beginning of the 1960s—and have not been seen again for almost 50 years. The accompanying DVD brings together FAT’s productions, which have been carefully restored and digitalised for this publication. Monolog der Terry Jo, a film, which in 1963 – shortly before the break up of the team – could no longer be edited, appears here for the first time. This book introduces FAT’s pioneering work with numerous texts, documents and photos, offering a sound foundation for anyone concerned with the subject. Also available in a three-volume set with Hansjörg Mayer’s TYPO and FOTO  (9783863356163  £56.00) English and German text.