Producer
Leopold Hoesch
Director
Anke Rebbert
Producerin
Vera Bertram
Genre
History
Broadcaster
WDR
Length
1 x 45'
Editorin
Sandra Brandl
Year
2017
OUR LAND 1974
When we were unbeatable

In the summer of 1974, life in our country took off. Everything became more colourful, more international, more passionate. The world came to NRW for the World Cup. The fourth film in the ten-part documentary series about the 1970s in North Rhine-Westphalia tells of a time when people could buy final match tickets for 15 DM and queue up for a whole night for them, of a year when we were unbeatable.

The documentary is much more than a sequence of events, it tells stories of people for whom the year 1974 was formative. For Walburga Krebber from Seppenrade, for example. Her husband, a Bundesliga referee, was chosen to coach the national team of Zaire. The "Leopards" were accommodated in Ascheberg in Münsterland. They lived and trained there during the World Cup - and were looked after by Walburga Krebber.

Or the Australian Jo Ann Endicott. As a classical ballet dancer, she set out for the other side of the world - to Wuppertal to join Pina Bausch. Bausch had just become ballet director and called her first choreography simply "Fritz". Endicott was part of the group and experienced a dance theatre almost without dance, very minimalist and experimental - Wuppertal and the Tanztheater Pina Bausch opened up a new world for Endicott.

Unbeatable in 1974 was also the Allwetterzoo Münster, which celebrated its new opening in May. On that day, Bärbel Uphoff stood at the entrance and greeted the visitors. In her arms were two chimpanzee children, Max and Moritz, whom she had raised herself. Animal keepers are a rarity in Münster in 1974. The 67-year-old Bärbel Uphoff was a pioneer and conquered this male domain.

The film is narrated by actress Annette Frier, who was born in Cologne in 1974. WDR was able to win ten prominent personalities from NRW as sponsors and narrators of the films. They tell the stories and events of the year of their birth and thus make the series "Our Country - the 70s" a very personal and entertaining journey back in time to a turbulent decade.

 

 

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