Housing Problems
UK, 1935
Directors: Edgar Anstey and Arthur Elton (uncredited)
Language: English
Colour: Black and white
Runtime: 13 mins
Short Synopsis
A ground-breaking documentary at its time, inhabitants of London slums in the 1930s to voice their problems, experiences and hopes for new housing developments.
Long Synopsis
In this historic documentary, the slum-dwellers of 1930s Stepney talk about the terrible conditions that they face. In the opening shot the camera pans the terraced rows as the Chairman of Stepney Housing Committee highlights the key issues faced by the working-class communities. He identifies sagging roofs, shored up walls, no running water, crumbling walls and unsanitary toilet facilities. The film then hands over to the inhabitants. One woman relays her experience of waking up to a rat near her head, another tells of stairs that are about to collapse, leaving the upper part of the house uninhabitable. A couple describe their experience of living in two rooms, with no water and no cooking facilities.
Housing Problems moves from the problem to its suggested solution: to build new housing estates, and tear down the slums. We are shown the plans for the new 'model' estate, and the inhabitants comment on the contrast in living conditions. The film finishes by revisiting the shots of the slums, and contrasting them to the cleanliness of the new estates.
Background information
About the film
Housing Problems is a powerful insight into lives of the working class during the 1930s. It was the first film to use synchronous sound on location, recording people in their actual surroundings and allowing them thereby to speak directly, through the camera, to the audience. The film was initially criticised for this lack of directorial intervention and guidance. This unobtrusive style, however, gave the people in the film their own voices. As Anstey says, 'We narrowed ourselves down … to a very, very simple technique, which was open, at the time nobody had done it, and we gave slum dwellers a chance to make their own films.'
About the film-makers
Edgar Anstey (1907-1987) started his career at the Empire Marketing Board Film Unit in 1931. In 1935 he worked with Arthur Elton on two successful films, Housing Problems and Enough to Eat? During the war, he made documentaries for the Ministry of Information. In 1949 he established British Transport Films for the British Transport Commission where he produced over 500 films.
Teaching materials and additional materials
The teaching materials have been developed by practising teachers to provide a springboard for your own work with your students. Feel free to use and adapt them appropriate to your students' needs.
The additional materials, provided by the film-makers, can be used to develop your work with the film and deepen students' understanding of the process of film-making.
