»Controversial city portrait: Essen up in arms about a TV film. UPROAR IN THE REVIER« was the headline of a newspaper article in DIE ZEIT on the 18.11.1983. The author of the film, Robert Hartmann, begins his film in noble Essen Bredeney and proceeds to map the social structure of the Ruhr metropolis from the south to the north during a ride on the tram line 101. Along route, he talks to people and captures an atmospheric picture of the city and the different worlds that exist in it. »Nowhere is the social divide more evident than on this journey, which you couldn't do today because the tram line no longer exists«, says Hartmann in a commentary on his film. After the film, we talk to Willi Overbeck, one of the film’s protagonists, and other local social activists about what has changed since then and where challenges still exist.

Author: Robert Hartmann, 1983, 30 min, in German

Many thanks to Kinemathek im Ruhrgebiet - FilmArchiv für die Region/Paul Hofmann for providing the film.