Nicole Engeln

Friedrich Engels and Karl Marx formed one of the most famous duos in world history. In contrast to Marx, however, Engels seems to have fallen into oblivion today. Unjustly so. Moving archive images, documentary footage and graphic novels lead us back to the time of Friedrich Engels, who shaped the Communist movement like no other.

The two-part documentary “Automania” unfolds the history of the automobile as a relationship between man and machine. The car: drug, technical wonder, object of desire. Like hardly any other machine, the car is more than that. It is loved, cherished and cared for, protected and used for self-expression. At the same time, it is a sign of economic prosperity: whoever drives a (certain) car has made something of himself. And what applies individually also applies to societies: The car creates jobs and prosperity. But the dream relationship that lasted for 100 years has fallen into crisis. The films tell in an entertaining, moody and emotional way about the rise of the car to become an icon of the West and suggest future prospects. The films combine factual informations with nostalgically colourful memories of eyewitnesses. In addition, there are statements by experts as well as politicians and business representatives.