HUNGRY MILES

The members of the WWFFU regarded the Hungry Miles (1955) as their most significant film, and ‘an important social document’. It has also been distinguished as a ‘documentary classic’. In late 1954 WWF General Secretary Jim Healy approached the filmmakers and asked if they could produce a work on the union’s industrial conflicts. A source of inspiration came from the recollections of veteran wharfies, and initially from The Hungry Mile, a pamphlet written by Sydney Branch leader Tom Nelson.

The hungry mile was the distance a man walked along the Sydney harbour in search of a job in the 1930’s and 40’s. This film effectively recreates that period so well, as to now be a source of ‘authentic footage’ in creating a depiction of working conditions and industrial conflict in that era.

1952: The Waterside Workers' Federation Film Unit formed

Under the banner ‘we film the facts’ The Waterside Workers’ Federation Film Unit produced a dozen documentaries on issues affecting Australian working class people. Driven by central figures Keith Gow, Jock Levy and Norma Disher, the Film Unit’s productions included Pensions For Veterans (1952), The Hungry Miles (1955) and November Victory (1955). The Unit also produced films for the Building Workers’ Industrial Union, the Boilermakers’ Society and The Miners’ Federation before disbanding in 1958. Its final production was Hewers of Coal.

Source
Shirley, G & Adams, B 1983, Australian Cinema the First Eighty Years, Chapter 8 ‘Into the Void’, Currency Press, Sydney, p. 189 pp. 195–196.