BFI Screenonline: Education: Mining Review 10/8: Hungarians in Britain (1957)

Mining Review 10/8: Hungarians in Britain (1957)


Mining Review 10th Year No. 8: Hungarians in Britain
April 1957
35mm, black and white, 3 mins

Production Company	Data Film Productions
Sponsor	National Coal Board

Refugee miners from Hungary are retrained for work in British pits.

Why do you think this film was made?
What indicators are there that this short film is staged?
Why do you think this is?
What do you notice about the way the miners talk about England and English people? Why do you think this is?

This short film was part of a larger newsreel item made for miners and shown in cinemas. This newsreel, as the news does today, reported on current events and topical issues which it thought its viewers would be interested in.
The Hungarian miners appear to be reciting lines which they have previously been taught - in doing so they make no obvious mistakes and are clearly aware who is the next to speak.
The film appears to be both a short documentary and fiction film in that it uses the visual 'language' of documentary - a presenter, interviews, non-professional actors - while it also appears highly scripted and planned.
What do you think? It could have been that the filmmaker wanted to ensure that the filming went smoothly, it may also have been that Mining Review wanted to ensure the Hungarian miners and the English lessons were shown in a positive light, i.e. not tripping up over their words.
The miners are very positive about the English - one says that he 'likes all English people' and another states that he wants 'to be a good friend to the English workmen.' The presenter informs us that there are already 10,000 foreign miners working in British pits and that these men wish to join them. It would therefore make sense for the Hungarians to display a friendly attitude to Britain's miners especially since this film was intended to be viewed by them.