A former film critic for the Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Switzerland's largest newspaper, he served as the Krupp Foundation professor for documentary film studies at Ruhr Universität Bochum from 2004 before moving to Frankfurt in 2011. In 2017, he became the first film scholar ever elected to a chair in a German Academy, the Mainz Academy of Sciences and Literature. He co-founded NECS – European Network of Cinema and Media Studies and is the founding editor of the Zeitschrift für Medienwissenschaft.
 
His research covers documentary forms; institutional uses of the moving image, particularly industrial films and film in scientific research; and the practical and conceptual challenges of film heritage, currently with a focus on Africa.