Eternal Life? The secrets of the centenarians

Eternal Life: Secrets of the Centenarians

Directed by Markus Hensler (2025)

Film Review

Statistical records reveal that Sardinians live longer than anyone else in the world. The documentary is filmed in a small village in the Ogliasta region of Sardinia, where people are particularly long-lived. The residents interviewed range between 86 and 100.

Some of the secrets they share are the importance of staying active, eating healthy and refraining from sin. For the most part, residents stick food they produce themselves and avoid preservatives and “industrially” produced food. They also stress the importance of strong social ties with family and their community.

At present 13,000 people in the village are in a study, in which medical scientists do lots of blood tests and ultrasound scans of their carotid arteries, liver, and kidneys. The researchers are busy trying to pinpoint the genetic idiosyncracies (go figure) responsible for their longevity.

I was particularly intrigued by vignettes of residents still dancing at age 100+, as well as a farmer in his nineties who ilks a herd of sheep everyday and makes his own sheep cheese.