Hardly Working

A film by Total Refusal
Country: Austria
Year: 2022
Length: 20:30

EPK
Stills/poster/portrait directors

Synopsis
Hardly Working sheds a limelight on the very characters that normally remain in the background of video games: NPCs. They are non-player characters that populate the digital world as extras to create the appearance of normality. A laundress, a stable boy, a street sweeper and a carpenter are observed with ethnographic precision. They are Sisyphus machines, whose labour routines, activity patterns as well as bugs and malfunctions paint a vivid analogy for work under capitalism.

Festivals
1. Locarno International Film Festival (Schweiz, August 2022) - Pardi di domani Best Direction Award & Junior Jury Award
2. Vancouver International Film Festivak VIFF (Canada, September 2022)
3. Black Canvas Festival de Cine Contemporáneo (Mexico, October 2022)
4. Festival du Nouveau Cinema (Canada, October 2022)
5. Seminci - Valladolid International Film Festival (Spain, October 2022)
6. VIENNALE (Austria, October 2022)
7. Filmmaker Film Festival (Italy, November 2022)
8. IKF Internationale Kurzfilmtage Winterthur (Switzerland, November 2022)
9. KFFK/Kurzfilmfestival Köln N°16 (Germany, November 2022)
10. Bosphorus Film Festival (Turkey, November 2022)
11. Uppsala International Short Film Festival (Sweden, November 2022)
12. Filmmaker Film Festival (Italy, November 2022) - Premio della Giuria Award
13. PÖFF Shorts (Estonia, November 2022)
14. Best Austrian Animation Festival (Austria, December 2022) - Best Austrian Animation ASIFA Award + Audience Award
15. Usak Film Festival (Turkey, December 2022) - Best Screenplay
16. Zubroffka (Poland, December 2022)
17. Alternative Video Festival Belgrade (Serbia, December 2022)
18. Tbilisi (Georgia, December 2022)
19. Winter Apricots: Prilep International Film Festival (Macedonia, December 2022) - Best Concept
20. Max Ophüls Preis (Germany, Janurary 2023)
21. Vilnius Internation Short Film Festival (Lithuania, January 2023)
22. FIPA Doc International Documentary Film Festival (France, January 2023)
23. Stuttgarter Filmwinter (Germany, January 2023)
24. Kaboom Animation Festival (Netherlands, March 2023)
25. Kurzfilmwoche Regensburg (Germany, March 2023) -  Special Mention
26. Diagonale - Festival des österreichischen Films (Austria, March 2023)
27. Prague Short Film festival (Czech Republic, March 2023)
28. Glasgow Film Festival (Scotland, March 2023)
29. Go short (Netherlands, March 2023)
30. Zagreb Dox (Croatia, March 2023)
31. IFF FEBIOFEST Bratislava (Slovakia, March 2023) - Best Short Film
32. 24th MUSIC & CINEMA Marseille (France, March 2023) - Prix Maritima TV MED "MED IN DOC"
33. Milan Machinima Festival (Italy, March 2023)
34. Cinema Du Reel (France, March 2023)
35. Indie Lisboa (Portugal, April 2023)
36. Internationale Kurzfilmtage Oberhausen (Germany, April 2023)
37. Filmfest Bremen (Germany, April 2023)
38. Athens International Film + Video Festival (Greece, April 2023) - Directors Prize
39. Crossing Europe (Austria, April 2023)
40. It's all true (Brasil, April 2023)
41. 2ANNAs International Film Festival/ Short Riga (Latvia, April 2023) - Special Mention
42. Busan International Short Film Festival (South Korea, April 2023)
43. Anifilm (Czech Republic, May 2023)
44. Panoptic Film Festival (Spain, May 2023)
45. Cinema Talks (Austria, May 2023) - winner in the category extraordinary
46. Flatpack 2023 (Great Britain, May 2023)
47. Animafest Zagreb (Croatia, June 2023) - Teen Dox Award
48. Vienna Shorts (Austria, June 2023) - Best Sound + Special Mention
49. Kurzfilm Festival Hamburg Mo&Friese (Germany, June 2023)
50. Kaş International Film Festival (Turkey, June 2023)
51. FEST – New Directors (Portugal, June 2023)
52. Syncro Festival (Argentina, June 2023)
53. Guanajuato International Film Festival (Mexico, July 2023)
54. Aegean Short Film Festival (Greece, July 2023)
55. San Giò Verona Video Festival (Italy, July 2023)
56. DotDotDot (Austria, August 2023)
57. Dokufest (Kosvo, August 2023)
58. Turku Animation Festival (Finland, August 2023)
59. Sao Paulo International Short Film Festival (Brasil, August 2023)
60. Shortynale (Austria, August 2023) - Special Award of the Jury
61. Helsinki International Film Festival Love & Anarchy (Finland, September 2023)
62. Fantoche (Switzerland, September 2023)
63. ELBE DOCK (Czech Republic, September 2023)
64. 25 FPS Film Festival (Croatia, September 2023)
65. Blue Danube Film Festival (Austria/Hungary/Slovakia, September 2023) - Student Jury Award for Best Animated Film
66. Encounters Film Festival (United Kingdom, September 2023)
67. Desenzano Film Festival (Italy, September 2023)
68. Bolton International Film Festival (United Kingdom, October 2023)
69. dokumentART (Germany, October 2023) - Audience Award
70. Perugia Social Film Festival (Italy, October 2023)
71. Un Festival C’est Trop Court (France, October 2023)
72. Cinema Next Tour (Austria, October 2023) - Jury Favourite
73. Lausanne Underground Film & Music Festival (Switzerland, October 2023)
74. CURTOCIRCUÍTO - International Film Festival (Spain, October 2023)
75. shnit Worldwide Shortfilmfestival 2023 (Switzerland, October 2023)
76. BIDEODROMO International Experimental Film and Video Festival (Spain, October 2023)
77. CO- Festival Internacional de Cinema Cooperatiu (Spain, October 2023)
78. International Film Festival BRNO16 (Czech Republic, October 2023)
79. FRONTDOC International Film Festival (Italy, October 2023)
80. Aesthetica Short Film Festival (United Kingdom, November 2023)
81. Rencontres Internationales Paris/Berlin (France, November 2023)
82. Kasseler Dokumentarfilm- und Videofest (Germany, November 2023)
83. Interfilm Berlin (Germany, November 2023)
84. KUKI Berlin (Germany, November 2023)
85. Alcine 52 (Spain, November 2023)
86. Zagreb Film Festival 2023 (Crotia, November 2023)
87. Cinema South Festival (Israel, November 2023)
88. exground filmfest (Germany, November 2023)
89. Cinecipó Film Festival (Brasil, November 2023)
90. Leuven Short Film Festival (Belgium, November 2023)
91. Beirut Shorts (Lebanon, December 2023)
92. Animateka (Croatia, December 2023) - Special Mention + DSAF Audience Award
93. Séquence Short Film Festival (France, December 2023)
94. Tampere Film Festival (Finland, March 2024)
95. International Festival of Science Documentary Films Academia Film Olomouc (Czech Republic, April 2024) - Honorary Mention
96. Skyline Benidorm Film Festival (Spain, April 2024) - Best European Short Film
97. Film my design Festival (Egypt, October 2024)
98. Big Cartoon Festival (Russia, October 2024)
99. Festival International Music & Cinema Marsaille (France, March 2025)
100. One World Romania (Romania, April 2025)

Winner of the European Short Film Award

Cast
A_F_M_ASBtownfolk_02 as “The Street Sweeper”, A_F_M_SDslums_02 as “The Laundress”, A_M_M_NBXdockworkers_01 as “The Carpenter”, A_M_M_VALlaorer_01 as “The Stable Hand”
Narrator: Jacob Banigan

Crew
Direction/Screenplay/Cinematography/Sound recording/Editing & Script: Total Refusal / Susanna Flock, Robin Klengel, Leonhard Müllner, Michael Stumpf
Sound design: Bernhard Zorzi
Composer: Adrian Haim
Translation: Michael Stumpf
Modding: RCPisawesome
Scenery: Rockstar Games

Supported by the Kunstraum Steiermark stipend (Land Steiermark) and Kunsthaus Graz. Realised within the framework of the European Media Art Platforms (EMAP) programme at Werkleitz (DE) with support of the Creative Europe Culture Programme of the European Union.