Counter-Publicity or The Other Video.The formation of independent video groups according to the American model began in West Germany in the mid 1970s. Most of the initiators were students of journalism, political science, or pedagogy. It was a time when the height of the 1968 student revolt had lost its momentum, but also when the first social reforms were showing results - although not in the media and especially not in television, which remained closely connected with the government and largely untouched by the critical spirit of the times. The priceworthy Porta-Pak camera from SONY, originally developed for police and surveillance work, had been shaping the world of video art since the middle of the sixties. Now it offered committed students the opportunity to "put the camera into the hands of the citizen." Their aim was to give visual form to issues excluded from the dominant public discourse, and particularly in television: the problems of everyday life and of people on the street. The nascent video movement went on to become an important factor of communication in the Federal Republic for more than a decade. Many independent media centers were founded, large numbers of videos found nationwide distribution (sometimes in hundreds of copies) and became an important source of support for citizens' initiatives - those groups which may have done more for the democratization of this country than most politicians. A somewhat fragmented retrospective presents important videos from this eventful time (most of them in excerpts) and provides a commentary on their importance. The result is a detailed introduction to the development of the video scene. Micky Kwella. So kommt ihr an uns nicht vorbei; Kickern, Disco... und was noch?; Am Rand der Träume; Putte muß bleiben; Die Schrottlawine; Paßt bloß auf; Das Zögern ist vorbei; Unbeschreiblich weiblich; 1 Schritt vor - 3 zurück/Abtreibungstango; Malfunction; Solange es Europa noch gibt; Frieden... ein Wort kann eine; Karikatur sein; 18 Tage freies Wackerland; Zaunkämpfe; Aspekte der Alternativbewegung - Trigger; Geisterfahrer; Immersion; Allein auf einer Insel, Teil 2