Realist Film Unit

The story of how newspapers were distributed during the Blitz, stressing the importance of an accurate and objective press on the home front.

Portrait of a small French town following its liberation during World War II.

Short documentary about British education in the late 1930s.

Information on the different groups and organizations that are there to help the population during wartime.

Is your hedge thin and straggly? Don't worry, help is at hand.

Trawlers at work; the crew on board and landing a catch. The fishing crew are seen with their families on shore shopping and enjoying themselves in the pub. Life aboard a West Coast trawler under arduous and dangerous wartime conditions.

Focuses upon the journey of child refugees from the Basque Country to temporary accommodation near Southampton, Hampshire [England].

Short World War II documentary showing how the everyday work of British housewives aided the war effort.

British health documentary on children's ears and how to prevent deafness.

Instructs on the importance of ante-natal care and proper diet in helping children to grow healthy teeth.

"The Harvest Shall Come" is a wartime story/documentary produced by Realist Film Unit and starring John Slater. This tells the story of an ordinary farmer (Tim Grimwood), and his struggles as a boy starting out in 1900, to a farm labourer come the second world war. The story documents the ebbs and flows of the fortunes of such as him in the industry over those 40 years, and (as the name suggests) has an air of new dawn, whereby farmers essential to the war effort would at last secure a fair deal.

Consideration of the social problems arising out of evacuation.

In the 1940s, Brotherhood of St Laurence founder, Father Gerard Tucker, commissioned three short, silent films which were screened to audiences in the affluent suburbs of Melbourne and rural Victoria. 'Beautiful Melbourne', 'Gaol Does Not Cure' and 'These Are Our Children' were made on a shoestring budget between in 1946-47. 'Beautiful Melbourne' with its raw scenes of the pre-gentrified Fitzroy near Melbourne’s CBD exposed the living conditions of families living in overcrowded, dilapidated and vermin-infested housing.

Social documentary short from Australia, on the welfare of children, especially those from a poor background.

A journalistic survey of Britain's road traffic problems and a plea for the adoption of a National Road Plan.

This Ministry of Information film does ‘what it says on the tin’. It is a straightforward, ‘no frills’ demonstration of how to store roots vegetables outside by a traditional method known as ‘clamping’, which had been used for centuries.

A stook is a group of sheaves of grain stood on end in a field, which can be stacked in ingenious and skilful fashion, in barn or field, to preserve and maintain the nutritional value of the grain. Some of these substantial stacks are shaped like cottages, and the local thatcher is even brought in to complete the roof. Director Rosanne Hunter made at least six films, all in the 1940s, however little is known of her life and career.

Paging all parents! Need some post-war childrearing advice? Then this is the film for you. It was an instalment in the Your Children series of films produced between 1945 and 1951, dealing with various facets of children's health - in this case, the importance of play to both mental and physical development. The surprise is not that much of it has amusingly dated – of course it has – but how much still feels enlightened and applicable today.

'A colour sound film funded by the Koornong School in Warrandyte, Victoria. Produced to promote awareness of the school’s activities, in particular its cooperative approach to school management, the film illustrates the traditional left ideal of collective action and again deploys the rural ideal which provides a response to the problems depicted in A Place to Live and These are Our Children. Scenes include the collective building of the school, a meeting of the school’s ‘bully committee’ to discuss students’ problems, and various activities where the emphasis is on groups of people working together. The school is located in what was a rural landscape outside Melbourne and the film shows exercise, learning and craft work in this locale as particularly wholesome activities.' (Deane Williams)

Part of BFI boxset Ration Books and Rabbit Pies: Films from the Home Front.