Eternal youth: the dream of humanity. Over the past century, the industrialized world has undergone a health revolution: people grow older today than at any point in the history of the human race. Deadly plagues and diseases have been eradicated, technological progress has given us food to spare and effortless mobility. But new diseases have crept into modern life such as cancer and dementia, which we increasingly seek to combat using science and technology. We are getting older, but we also have to fear serious illness in our old age. Could it be possible to become old in years while simultaneously maintaining the health of youth? Certain regions around the world seem to have found the secret. Here, a striking number of centenarians roam about. Old people enjoy an agility and alertness belying their years, working and playing with seemingly no effort. What is their secret? Using stylishly modern and highly cinematic images, the series Fountain of Youth transports the viewer to five different regions around the world.

A tiny mountain village between Rome and Naples, Campodimele gained scientific fame in the 80s. Here, doctors from the University of Rome found an unusual proportion of healthy, very old people among the population. The secret of long life was the village’s isolation and a poor man’s cuisine so rich in micronutrients that one could make a diet out of it. But the rural exodus has led to a decline in this food culture. Another legacy is guaranteed to survive, however: a genetic mutation that appears to keep one healthy and which occurs nowhere else with such frequency. Every third inhabitant of Campodimele boasts blood vessels as smooth and unobstructed as those of a teenager. Could this mutation be the blueprint for a fountain of youth pill?

Director: Yousif Al-Chalabi
Writer: Yousif Al-Chalabi
Cinematographer: Yousif Al-Chalabi
Editor: Daniel Paul Bier
Music: Christoph Schauer
Sound: Matthias Kreitschmann
Narrator (German): Erich Räuker
Commissioning editors: Pit Lehmann (MDR), Christian Cools (arte)
Production managers: Brigit Mulders, Bernd Schwarzer (MDR)
Producer: Andrea Ufer
Channel: MDR/arte

– Episode 1 – Guanacaste, Costa Rica
– Episode 2 – Abkhazia, Caucasus
– Episode 3 – Campodimele, Italy
– Episode 4 – Hainan, China
– Episode 5 – Loma Linda, California/USA