Soldiers of Light

They are on a crusade against “darkness.” In Germany, the “Citizens of the Reich” (Reichsbürger) movement belongs to the same family of anti-state far-right ideologies as the Sovereign Citizen and Freeman-on-the-Land movements in Australia, the UK, and the US. Like their counterparts abroad, Reichsbürger adherents reject state authority, refuse to recognise existing governments, and construct elaborate pseudo-legal or spiritual systems to justify self-rule. It is within this shadow world that Soldiers of Light unfolds. Filmmakers Johannes Büttner and Julian Vogel gain rare access to a movement that fuses wellness, spirituality, and extremism. At its centre stands David, a.k.a. “Mister Raw” — a raw-vegan influencer whose lucrative online “healing” empire blends supplements, fasting, and divine purity with conspiratorial politics. His follower Timo, vulnerable and mentally unwell, believes he can cure himself through Mister Raw’s teachings. Filmed with unflinching, observational clarity, Soldiers of Light exposes how wellness culture can mask fanaticism — revealing the seductive face of an old idea reborn: purity as salvation.

Supported by Goethe-Institut Australia