A man in a white shirt, sleeves rolled up, a leather cartridge belt over his shoulder. He is about to fall backward; his knees at a 90-degree angle, his right arm outstretched, the rifle slipping from his grip: Robert Capa's "The Falling Soldier" from 1936 in the Spanish Civil War, supposedly taken at the moment of death. Initially, photographs were "a representation of something real, as irrefutable as no verbal description ever could be," wrote the American author Susan Sontag in her essay "Looking at the Suffering of Others" (2003). The ideal of war photography is to show the "true face" of war and to bear witness: This is how it was, this is what happened! And today, when AI-generated images are almost indistinguishable from real photographs? The internationally active video artist and director Ayla Pierrot Arendt explores the manipulability of reality. With the ensemble, she tells stories of journeys through the crisis regions of our time, captured by war photographers, peace activists, and influencers – in search of the truly authentic. How can one find objectivity today when it is constantly being tested between falsification and reality? Who creates and who views these images of suffering? What purpose do they serve – and for whom?

Looking at the suffering of others

Schauspiel Köln

Life! That's what Franz Biberkopf wants. Disoriented, he stumbles through a metropolis that threatens to engulf him. Between pub crawls and urban escapades, Biberkopf, a perpetrator of violence against women, dreams of dominance, self-empowerment, and big business. He becomes entangled in sexual adventures, petty crime, and a diabolical dependence on the crook Reinhold. Power struggles, overconfidence, and violence cost him his right arm—and ultimately, the life of his lover, Mieze.

Jürgen Kapitein

Events

Upcoming events

Apr 22 - May 14, 2026

Looking at the suffering of others · Bühnen Köln

May 20, 2026

Berlin Alexanderplatz · Bühnen Köln

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