I decided right from the start to avoid all the clichés that had already appeared in industrial advertising films. I wanted to show real working conditions and how the product, in this case the radio had gradually developed. It seemed to me to be the most honest way of shooting the film, a kind of documentary Modern Times. […] I thought it would be useful to go and visit a glass blower or any other factory worker’s home, after work, to give an idea of their private life and what they did with their salary. I was told, however, that this could not be included in the film. The factory gates were the boundary beyond which I was not allowed to shoot.

Joris Ivens