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Born to Fake
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Born to Fake

2026-05-28 · 92 min · Not rated

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?

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Production details

Directors
Erec Brehmer, Benjamin Rost
Production companies
MSZ Production and Consulting, SWR
Countries
Germany
Status
Released

Top Cast

Michael BornSelf
Roland BergerSelf
Martin LettmayerSelf
Dr. Gabriele SchusterSelf
Thomas PritzlSelf

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