The workers’ film movement in Britain, 1929–39

Abstract

During the pre-war decade the workers’ film movement in Britain thrived as an important and colourful aspect of left-wing political, cultural and social activity. As with other media, film’s political possibilities were explored partly under the influence of Soviet ‘revolutionary’ experimentation, but mainly under that of the fashionable aesthetic of social realism. The use of film by the workers’ movement was paralleled by experimentation in ‘proletarian literature’, ‘workers’ theatre’ and on the continent, ‘workers’ radio’. The international background, particularly the European, and the movement towards the politicisation of culture within left sections of the international workers’ movement were of central importance to the development of the workers’ film movement in Britain. The purpose of this short article however is to outline the activities of the main workers’ film organisations in Britain and provide descriptions of a few of their most important films.¹

For his invaluable criticism and extensive help with this chapter, the editors and author would like to thank Trevor Ryan of the University of Leeds, whose PhD thesis is entitled ‘Labour and the Media: the attitudes of the Labour Movement in Britain, 1929–39, towards the new media of Radio and Film and its attempts to use them for political purposes’.