Mike and Stefani

Mike and Stefani is a 1952 Australian drama film produced by the Film Division, News and Information Bureau of the Department of Interior for the Department of Immigration. Made to counter criticism of Australias postwar immigration policy that it was too lax, it tells the true story of a Ukrainian refugee couple who move to Australia. The film is in the style of the Italian neorealism movement.

Ron Maslyn Williams was sent to Europe in June 1949 accompanied by documentary cameraman Reginald Pearse. They spent several months researching and developing a script. They discovered a camp for Polish and Ukrainian refugees at Leipheim in Bavaria, which was run by a former Melbourne school teacher, Valerie Paling. A family was selected and a script developed based on their lives. Scenes were shot for the beginning of the film to recreate their life in prewar Ukraine and documentary clips were added to provide background to the couples separation and forced labour in Germany.Shooting took place over two months in the winter of 194950. The interview of Mike and Stefani by Australian Immigration official Harold Grant was real, with the family actually not yet assured of acceptance into Australia. However they were successful and the crew followed them to Australia. Additional shots were taken at the Film Division headquarters at Burwood, New South Wales. ........

Source: Wikipedia