''The Shadow of a Mine'' is a 1929

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

silent

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

directed by

Phil Jutzi Phil Jutzi (sometimes known as Piel Jutzi) (22 July 1896 – 1 May 1946) was a German cinematographer and film director. Biography Born Philipp Jutzi in Altleiningen as the son of a tailor, Jutzi was self-educated. (He seems to have been generally ...

and starring Holmes Zimmermann and

Sybille Schloß Sybille may refer to: *François Sybille (1906–1968), Belgian boxer *Princess Elisabeth Sybille of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach (1854–1908), the first wife of Duke Johann Albrecht of Mecklenburg *Sybille Bammer (born 1980), Austrian tennis player *Sy ...

. Its original German title is ''Um's tägliche Brot'' (''Our Daily Bread''). It is also known as ''Hunger in Waldenburg''. The film was produced by the

left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy either as a whole or of certain social ...

Volksfilmverband in partnership with Weltfilm and the

Theater am Schiffbauerdamm The ''Theater am Schiffbauerdamm'' () is a theatre building at the ''Schiffbauerdamm'' riverside in the Mitte district of Berlin, Germany, opened on 19 November 1892. Since 1954, it has been home to the Berliner Ensemble theatre company, founded ...

. Using a

docudrama Docudrama (or documentary drama) is a genre of television show, television and feature film, film, which features Drama (film and television), dramatized Historical reenactment, re-enactments of actual events. It is described as a hybrid of docu ...

format, the film highlights the hardships faced by

Silesia Silesia (see names #Etymology, below) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Silesia, Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at 8, ...

coal miners People have worked as coal miners for centuries, but they became increasingly important during the Industrial Revolution when coal was burnt on a large scale to fuel stationary and locomotive engines and heat buildings. Owing to coal's strategic ...

in Waldenburg. It premiered at the Tauenzienpalast in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

on 16 March 1929. The film was screened in Britain by the London Workers' Film Society in December 1929. This is now the only print of the film which survives.Bock & Bergfelder p.233

Plot summary

The film centers on the interconnected lives of coal miners and their families in the economically depressed region of Waldenburg, Silesia. The story begins by establishing the dire living conditions in the mining community, where families struggle to afford basic necessities despite the dangerous and backbreaking work performed by the men underground. The protagonist, young Weber (Holmes Zimmermann), represents the new generation of workers caught between traditional labor practices and the changing industrial landscape of the late 1920s. As the narrative unfolds, Weber witnesses firsthand the devastating effects of mine accidents, wage cuts, and the constant threat of unemployment that hangs over the community like a shadow. The film's dramatic tension builds as the miners face a crisis when the mine owners announce further reductions in wages and benefits, pushing the already impoverished families to the brink of starvation. This forces the workers to confront the difficult choice between accepting deteriorating conditions or risking everything through collective action and strikes. Through Weber's journey, the audience experiences the moral and practical dilemmas faced by working-class families: the struggle between individual survival and collective solidarity, the tension between accepting exploitation and fighting for dignity, and the harsh reality of choosing between a dangerous job and no job at all. The film culminates in the workers' decision to organize and demand their rights, despite the personal and economic risks involved.

Cast

* Holmes Zimmermann as Junger Weber *

References

Bibliography

* Bock, Hans-Michael & Bergfelder, Tim. ''The Concise CineGraph. Encyclopedia of German Cinema''. Berghahn Books, 2009. * Murray, Bruce Arthur. ''Film and the German Left in the Weimar Republic: From Caligari to Kuhle Wampe''. University of Texas Press, 1990.

External links

* 1929 films 1929 drama films Silent German drama films Films of the Weimar Republic German silent feature films Films directed by Phil Jutzi Films about mining Films about social realism German black-and-white films 1920s German films 1920s German-language films 1920s rediscovered films Rediscovered German films {{1920s-Germany-silent-drama-film-stub