Together with Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels formed one of the most famous duos in world history. Unlike Marx, Friedrich Engels seems to have unjustly fallen into oblivion. He laid the intellectual groundwork for The Communist Manifesto. He showed Marx the suffering of the workers in the 19th century. Without him “Das Kapital” would probably never have been published.

On the occasion of his 200th birthday on 28 November 2020, the documentary follows his turbulent life: From a textile manufacturer’s son from Wuppertal to a barricade fighter and idol of the labour movement. Moving archive images, documentary footage and graphic novels take us back to the time of Friedrich Engels, who was often underestimated even during his lifetime, but who shaped the Communist Movement like no other.

WRITER & DIRECTOR: Martin Becker & Nina Koshofer EDITOR: Agnès Padrol Sureda CAMERA: Joachim Seck, Fabian Spuck, Steffen Bohn, Patrick Boyle COMMISSIONING EDITOR: Barbara Schmitz (WDR), Jean-Christoph Caron (Phoenix)