Borinage

In 1933 Henri STORCK asked Joris IVENS to help make a film about the social consequences of the previous year's miners' strike in Borinage. Arriving at the mine region, they were so taken by the situation they encountered that they forgot all about aesthetics. The film confronts the spectator with sobering images of misery: miners unemployed or exploited by the mine companies, with entire families evicted from their homes because they couldn't afford the rent.