Coffee is the second most important commodity in the world after oil. But the popular intellectual lubricant has a dark secret: the consumption of coffee and the number of coffee houses increased before the American War of Independence, before the French Revolution and the German Revolution of 1848. New scientific studies confirm this: Coffee promotes progressive thought structures. What does the black elixir trigger, in our brain, in our body, in our soul? Is coffee really a “stimulant”?

The film tells a journey to the roots of coffee and its political, human and emotionally moved history.

WRITER & DIRECTOR: Gerhard J. Rekel     CAMERA: Adnane Korchyou     EDITOR: Agnès Padrol Sureda     SOUND: Moritz Herberg     NARRATOR: Nicole Engeln     MUSIC: Paul Rabiger     COMMISSIONING EDITOR: Michael Petsch (ZDF), Petra Boden (ARTE), Caroline Haidacher (ORF)