It's a great year for the music-mad youth. The disco wave sweeps across the country, new discos with light shows and fog spring up everywhere. "Whoever dances like John Travolta" is the name of a dance competition in which the Kahl brothers also participate. Like their idol John Travolta in the film "Saturday Night Fever", they also come from a working-class background and dream of becoming famous.

At the same time, Düsseldorf and the Ratinger Hof become the nucleus of a new youth movement: the punks arrive. They dance pogo and want nothing to do with the bourgeois world.

The steelworkers are on strike - the companies react with a lockout. There is a bitter industrial dispute in NRW all year round. Even at the contemplative Christmas time, the workers do not rest.

Things are going badly for Prime Minister Kühn and the SPD. Once again, the West-LB is involved in a scandal that leads to Finance Minister Halstenberg having to vacate his chair. And then there is the big petition for a referendum. Today one would call it "comprehensive school", in 1978 it was still called "cooperative school". It is to be introduced in 1978, but the people grumble. The "Stop Co-op" initiative is launched and brings the law down. The era of Heinz Kühn comes to an end and a new Minister President arrives: Johannes Rau.

It is a fantastic year for 1. FC Köln. Under coach Hennes Weisweiler, the club wins the double and Dieter Müller becomes top scorer. Together with the striker we experience the dramatic season finale. The title for FC Köln was actually already assured, but Borussia Mönchengladbach delivers a historic match against Borussia Dortmund and would have snatched the championship trophy from Cologne by a hair's breadth.

The film is narrated by Pinar Atalay, who was born in Lemgo in 1978. She tells the stories and events of the year of her birth, making the film a personal journey through time.

First broadcast: Friday, 6 October 2017 at 8:15 pm on WDR