Ten Years of Collectivisation

This newsreel likely served as a brief reminder of the ongoing collectivization process which was in full swing across Romania at the time of its production. Set in March 1959, it comes a decade after the Plenary Session of the Central Committee of the Romanian Workers’ Party, held on 3-5th March, 1949 (the story opens with footage from this seminal event).

The footage included comes from various locations across the country, likely recycled from earlier newsreels. The voice-over commentary presents statistics intended to show the progress of socialist agriculture during the 1950s (e.g. the increase from 45 combines in 1949 to 9,000 in 1959; 4.5 million hectares already absorbed into the socialist agricultural sector). The story ends abruptly with a call to continue advancing along the path of socialist agricultural transformation. While most locations remain unidentified, we learn from the footage that a few shots were filmed in the village of Mălăești, in the Gropnița commune (Târgu Frumos district). (AB)