Born to Fake

May 28, 2026

1h 32m

★ 0.0

Overview

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?

Genres

Documentary

Production Companies

MSZ Production and Consulting

SWR

Born to Fake Trailers

No Trailers found.

Cast

himself

Michael Born

himself

Roland Berger

himself

Martin Lettmayer

herself

Dr. Gabriele Schuster

himself

Thomas Pritzl

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Born to Fake

Overview

Genres

Production Companies

Born to Fake Trailers