In the mid 19th century, hundreds of thousands of Europeans emigrated to faraway South America. It was a desperate bid to escape the famine, poverty and despotism that ruled at home. Their motto was: “Any fate is better than death”. Edgar Reitz’ new film DIE ANDERE HEIMAT is a domestic drama and love story set against the backdrop of this forgotten tragedy. It centres around two brothers who realise that only their dreams can save them. The younger of them, Jakob, reads every book he can lay his hands on. He dreams about leaving his village, Schabbach, for adventures on an unknown continent and the freedom of the wild South American jungle. He studies the languages of the native South Americans and records his heroic attempts to escape the rural confines of the Hunsrück in an astonishing diary that not only tells us his story but reflects the aspirations and philosophies of a whole era. Everyone who encounters Jakob is drawn into the maelstrom of his dreams: his parents, bowed by the unremitting toil involved in making a living from the soil; his belligerent brother Gustav; and above all Henriette (Jettchen), the comely daughter of a gem cutter fallen on hard times. Gustav’s return from military service is destined to shatter Jakob’s world and his love for Henriette.

It took almost four years to make this film. The period that separates us from the events in the story is a mere 160 years, but for myself, the film crew and the actors it was a journey to a very different and almost entirely forgotten Germany, a country disfigured by crippling poverty. Now we have completed the film, I feel the immense boon of living at a time when liberty and enjoyment are things that everyone can legitimately claim to be theirs by right. It takes a huge effort of the imagination to realise that less than a century and a half ago people in our country were forced to eke out a living for themselves under conditions that are almost unparalleled anywhere in today’s world. For a time, working on this film upended our customary perspectives. From Schabbach we trained our gaze on present-day life with the eyes of an outsider and it was frightening to see how apocalyptic the consumerism, egocentricity and exaggerated pretensions of our fragmented society suddenly appeared to be. Indeed, one of the effects of DIE ANDERE HEIMAT is perhaps to prompt the audience to pause for a while and experience the very different rhythm that enabled our ancestors to survive. Deep down, it may still be the true rhythm of our hearts.