In “An Approach by Helmut Färber,” an unpublished text written in 2007, documentary filmmaker Gerhard Friedl (Knittelfeld. A Town without a History, Wolff von Amerongen. Did He Commit Bankruptcy Offences?) describes his experience of Färber’s courses at film school – a method of scrupulous, close analysis at the editing table that also played a crucial role in Harun Farocki’s teaching. Farocki got to know Färber in the 1970s and remained deeply indebted to his thoughts and methods throughout his career. HaFI 004, translated by Ted Fendt, is published at the occasion of Helmut Färber’s 80th birthday and at a moment when Gerhard Friedl, who died in 2009, would have turned 50.