''Eight Hours Don't Make a Day'' (german: Acht Stunden sind kein Tag) (also translated as ''(Eight Hours Are Not a Day)'' is a West German television miniseries written and directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder. Commissioned by

Westdeutscher Rundfunk Westdeutscher Rundfunk Köln (''West German Broadcasting Cologne''; WDR, ) is a German public-broadcasting institution based in the Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia with its main office in Cologne. WDR is a constituent member of the conso ...

, it was broadcast in five episodes between 1972 and 1973. The story follows a group of working-class people in

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

Episodes

Cast

;All episodes *

Gottfried John Gottfried John (; 29 August 1942 – 1 September 2014) was a German stage, screen, and voice actor. A long-time collaborator of Rainer Werner Fassbinder, John appeared in nine of the filmmaker's projects between 1975 and 1981, the year befor ...

as Jochen Epp * Hanna Schygulla as Marion Andreas * Luise Ulrich as Oma Krüger *

Werner Finck Werner Finck (2 May 1902 – 31 July 1978) was a German ''Kabarett'' comedian, actor and author. Not politically motivated by his own admission but just a "convinced individualist", he became one of Germany's leading cabaret artists under the co ...

as Gregor Mack *

Irm Hermann Irmgard Hermann (4 October 194226 May 2020) was a German actress. She worked in film, television, and the stage, appearing in over 160 film and television productions. She was discovered, without formal training, by Rainer Werner Fassbinder who c ...

as Irmgard Erlkönig * Wolfgang Schenck as Franz Miltenberger * Wolfgang Zerlett as Manfred Müller * Rudolf Waldemar Brem as Rolf Schwein * Grigorios Karipidis as Giuseppe Giuliano * Wolfried Lier as Wolf Epp * Hans Hirschmüller as Jürgen Graf * Renate Roland as Monika * Anita Bucher as Käthe Epp * Karl Scheydt as Arbeiter Peter * Rainer Hauer as Werkshallenleiter Volkmar Gross * Andrea Schober as Sylvia * Herb Andress as Rüdiger * Thorsten Massinger as Manni Andreas * Kurt Raab as Harald (4 episodes) * El Hedi ben Salem (''uncredited'') as Dunkelhäutiger Arbeiter (4 episodes) *

Ruth Drexel Ruth Drexel (; 14 July 1930 – 26 February 2009) was a German actress, director, and theatre director/manager. Her best-known role was as "Resi Berghammer" in the German television series, ''Der Bulle von Tölz'', in which she played the mothe ...

as Frau Miltenberger (3 episodes) * Christine Oesterlein as Tante Klara (2 episodes) * Brigitte Mira as Marions Mutter, Frau Andreas (1 episode) * Peter Gauhe as Ernst Friedrich (1 episode) * Victor Curland as Meister Fritz Kretzschmer (1 episode) * Klaus Löwitsch as Dr. Betram (1 episode) * Rudolf Lenz as Vermieter Mattes (1 episode) * Hans Gromball as Betrüger (1 episode) *

Valeska Gert Valeska or Valeška may refer to the following people: Given name *Valeska von Gallwitz (1833–1888), German writer *Valeska Gert (1892–c. 1978), German dancer and cabaret artist * Valeska Menezes (born 1976), Brazilian volleyball player * Val ...

as Die andere Oma (1 episode) * Margit Carstensen as Hausfrau (1 episode) *

Ulli Lommel Ulli Lommel (21 December 1944 – 2 December 2017) was a German actor and director, noted for his many collaborations with Rainer Werner Fassbinder and his association with the New German Cinema movement. Lommel spent time at The Factory and ...

as Peter (1 episode) *

Eva Mattes __notoc__ Eva Mattes (; born 14 December 1954) is an Austrian-German actress. She has appeared in four films directed by director Rainer Werner Fassbinder (''The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant'', ', ''Effi Briest'' and ''In a Year of 13 Moons' ...

as Beschwippste Freundin (1 episode) * Lilo Pempeit as Hausfrau Müller (1 episode) * Heinz Meier as Beamter Meier (1 episode) * Ursula Strätz (''uncredited'') as Peters Frau (1 episode) * Peter Chatel as Mann in der Anzeigenannahme (1 episode)

Restoration

In December 2016, it was announced that the restored version would have its world premiere in the Berlinale Special section of the 67th Berlin International Film Festival. In September 2017,

Arrow Films Arrow Films is a British independent film distributor and restorer specialising in world cinema, arthouse, horror and classic films. It sells Ultra HD Blu-rays, Blu-rays and DVDs online, and also operates its own subscription video on-d ...

released this version in a limited edition dual-format

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

and

Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of st ...

box set in the UK. The UK release runs at the original speed of 25

frames per second A frame is often a structural system that supports other components of a physical construction and/or steel frame that limits the construction's extent. Frame and FRAME may also refer to: Physical objects In building construction *Framing (con ...

. In October 2018,

The Criterion Collection The Criterion Collection, Inc. (or simply Criterion) is an American home video, home-video distribution company that focuses on licensing, restoring and distributing "important classic and contemporary films." Criterion serves film and media scho ...

released it on

and

in the USA, slowed to 24 frames per second.

References

External links

*
''Eight Hours Don’t Make a Day: The Utopia Channel''
an essay by Moira Weigel at the Criterion Collection 1972 German television series debuts 1973 German television series endings Television shows set in North Rhine-Westphalia German-language television shows Das Erste original programming Grimme-Preis for fiction winners Rainer Werner Fassbinder Films scored by Fuzzy (composer) {{Germany-tv-prog-stub