From the mid-1920s onwards, various factions of the German workers' movement began experimenting with the new medium of film to communicate their political messages. Under the grandiose slogan "Conquer the film!," the communist media entrepreneur Willi Münzenberg began calling in 1925 for an expansion and professionalization of revolutionary film production. In response, a number of leftwing filmmakers turned their critical lenses on the social problems of the Weimar Republic, from poverty to the uncertainties of the labor market. Their films also sought, in the spirit of political agitation, to highlight the positive political power of a mobilized and united working class.

These clips from the 1929 film Der Weg einer Proletarierin [The Journey of a Proletarian Woman], the debut directorial effort by Maria Margarethe Harder (1898–1936), blend both dramatized and documentary scenes. In addition to directing the film, Harder had also, in that same year, taken over the management of its production company, the Film- und Lichtbilddienst (FiuLi), founded by the Social Democratic Party (SPD) in 1926 to create movies promoting its point of view. In concise, episodic form, the film follows the life of Martha (played by Soviet actress Vera Baranovskaya), a pregnant farm worker who moves to the big city, becomes an industrial worker, and joins the labor movement. Working hard to make a living as a single mother, she raises her daughter Hanne in the spirit of Marxism. The film contrasts the precarious living conditions of the industrial proletariat with those of the more affluent social classes. At the same time, it highlights what the workers' movement has already achieved through its struggle—especially for mothers like Martha—such as daycare centers, health clinics, subsidized housing, and financial support.