Mike and Stefani is a 1952 Australian

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. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

produced by the Film Division, News and Information Bureau of the Department of Interior for the

Department of Immigration The Department of Immigration was an Australian government department that existed between July 1945 and June 1974. Scope Information about the department's functions and/or government funding allocation could be found in the Administ ...

. Made to counter criticism of Australia's post-war immigration policy that it was too lax, it tells the true story of a

Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...

refugee couple who move to Australia. The film is in the style of the

Italian neorealism Italian neorealism ( it, Neorealismo), also known as the Golden Age, is a national film movement characterized by stories set amongst the poor and the working class. They are filmed on location, frequently with non-professional actors. They pri ...

movement.

Plot

When war breaks out, a young Ukrainian couple, Mike and Stefani, are taken away by the German invaders to separate

labour camps A labor camp (or labour camp, see spelling differences) or work camp is a detention facility where inmates are forced to engage in penal labor as a form of punishment. Labor camps have many common aspects with slavery and with prisons (especi ...

. After the war, Stefani finds herself a

displaced person Forced displacement (also forced migration) is an involuntary or coerced movement of a person or people away from their home or home region. The UNHCR defines 'forced displacement' as follows: displaced "as a result of persecution, conflict, g ...

. She is reunited with Mike at a

refugee camp A refugee camp is a temporary settlement built to receive refugees and people in refugee-like situations. Refugee camps usually accommodate displaced people who have fled their home country, but camps are also made for internally displaced peo ...

and they live there for two and a half years. In 1949, the camps are being shut down so Mike and Stefani decide to migrate to Australia. However, they first have to undertake a gruelling medical examination and interrogation by Australian immigration officers.

Cast

* Mycola – himself * Stefani – herself * Ladu (Mycola's brother) * Valerie Paling – herself * Australian immigration official – Harold Grant

Production

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

displaced persons camp A refugee camp is a temporary Human settlement, settlement built to receive refugees and people in refugee-like situations. Refugee camps usually accommodate displaced people who have fled their home country, but camps are also made for interna ...

for Polish and Ukrainian refugees at

Leipheim Leipheim is a town in the district of Günzburg, in Bavaria, Germany. It is situated on the Danube, west of Günzburg, and northeast of Ulm. The village Riedheim and the hamlet Weissingen are districts of Leipheim. Since 1993, Leipheim has bee ...

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 pre-war Ukraine and documentary clips were added to provide background to the couple's separation and forced labour in Germany. Shooting took place over two months in the winter of 1949–50. 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 Burwood is a suburb in the Inner West of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is west of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre for the Local government in Australia, local government area of Mun ...

Release

Williams struggled to get the film commercially released. It was mainly distributed through government film libraries although it did have a few commercial screenings and won a prize at a festival. In 2011, the film was released as a DVD from as part of the Film Australia Collection at the

National Film and Sound Archive The National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (NFSA), known as ScreenSound Australia from 1999 to 2004, is Australia's audiovisual archive, responsible for developing, preserving, maintaining, promoting and providing access to a national co ...

of Australia.

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, id=0347538, title=Mike and Stefani *
Mike and Stefani
' – the full film provided by the NSFA at

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

Article on the film
at

Senses of Cinema ''Senses of Cinema'' is a quarterly online film magazine founded in 1999 by filmmaker Bill Mousoulis. Based in Melbourne, Australia, ''Senses of Cinema'' publishes work by film critics from all over the world, including critical essays, career ...

Collection of essays on the film by Lisa Williams

at ABC website
''Mike and Stefani''
at Oz Movies Forced migration History of immigration to Australia Ukrainian diaspora in Australia Australian black-and-white films Australian drama films 1952 drama films 1950s English-language films