Chilling, unblinking confrontations with the void of modern existence, the films of Michael Haneke dare viewers to reckon with the links between media, violence, capitalism, and inequality in an increasingly sterile, alienated world. With his first three theatrical features—THE SEVENTH CONTINENT, BENNY’S VIDEO, and 71 FRAGMENTS OF A CHRONOLOGY OF CHANGE—Haneke offered a disturbing vision of an Austrian society so emotionally numb it could only be roused by the shock of sudden violence. His harrowing dissections of contemporary malaise reached new heights of controversy and acclaim with much-debated international sensations like the dread-inducing home-invasion thriller FUNNY GAMES and the startling psycho-erotic drama THE PIANO TEACHER, which firmly established him as one of contemporary cinema’s most daring and provocative artists.