What is the right way to live? Like so many before and since, August Engelhardt asked himself this question at the beginning of the last century. Modernism was developing. Industrialisation and other scientific achievements were changing people’s lives at a rapid pace. Depression, nervous disorders and anxiety were now widespread medical issues, and the desire for deceleration and alternative life models was growing steadily. Parallels to the present day are striking.
August Engelhardt was convinced that, to achieve its full potential, modern mankind needed nothing more than sunlight and coconuts – a life in harmony with nature. Separated from civilisation’s “spiritual contamination”, he sought enlightenment and self-realisation at the other end of the world. But he was unaware that, in doing so, he had unwittingly founded an empire of dropouts, Lonely Planet readers and self-seekers. Today the trend’s effects can be observed from Goa to Kho Samui.
I am fascinated by how radical Engelhardt’s approach was. My film will examine his desire to change the world by changing himself in a rather ironic way. Engelhardt had a plan, but not a clue.