Born to Fake
2026•12•1h 32m•Released
Documentary
In 1996, one of the biggest media scandals in German history shook the public: Michael Born, a self-made journalist, had faked over twenty reports for the newly established private television station between 1990 and 1996. Some seemed amateurish, others dealt with absurd topics: child labor for IKEA in India, drug addicts licking toads to get high, and the Ku Klux Klan in the Eifel region were just some of his numerous fabrications. How did it come to this? Was Michael Born an enlightened figure who subversively exposed the tabloid system, a victim of the system, or simply a bumbling fraud? Film traces Michael Born's footsteps. Put together from hundreds of hours of raw material and the memories of former companions, an incredible story of forgery emerges. A media-theoretical film about levels of reality, fake news, and the question: Why do we actually believe what we see?
Director
Erec Brehmer
Languages
German
Studio
MSZ Production and Consulting
Cast
Michael Born
Self
Roland Berger
Self
Martin Lettmayer
Self
Dr. Gabriele Schuster
Self
Thomas Pritzl
Self
Production
Company
MSZ Production and Consulting
Company
SWR
Producer
Mark Szilágyi
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