TOTAL REFUSAL’S HARDLY WORKING (2021) WON THE BEST DIRECTOR’S AWARD IN THE PARDI DI DOMANI SHORT FILM COMPETITION AT THE 2022 LOCARNO FILM FESTIVAL
A pungent critique on the labor conditions of NPCs in open world games — and specifically Red Dead Redemption 2 — Hardly Working is a meta-documentary on what would be called “extras” in a cinematic production: NPCs or non-player characters. In fact, the narrative function of such characters is limited, if not marginal and they seem to have no real agency or autonomy.
Hardly working is a 20 minute “ethnographic exploration of the work and daily life of non-player characters, the digital extras in video games. Their labor loops, activity patterns as well as bugs and malfunctions paint a vivid analogy for work under capitalism.”
As the artists explain:
Here a laundress, a stableman, a street sweeper, and a handyman are the four main characters of this film. With ethnographic precision, the film observes their daily work: a rhythm composed of loops that makes them work daily and tirelessly. Their work neither results in a product, nor does it change anything about their status quo. In light of Hannah Arendt description of ‘animal laborans’ – in contrast to the acting subject –, the NPCs as individuum are an exaggeration as their work performance actually manifests their status.
The Pardi di Domani competition is described by the curators as “a territory for expressive experimentation and innovative formal poetry, [which] showcases short and medium length films as world or international premieres. The section consists of three competitions: Concorso internazionale, with works by emerging filmmakers from all over the world; Concorso nazionale, for Swiss productions; and Concorso Corti d’autore, with short works by established directors.” This year, the Best Auteur Short Film was awarded to Big Bang by Carlos Segundo and the Best International Short Film prize went to Sovereign by Wara. Total Refusal’s well deserved award from one of the world’s most prestigious film festivals, is a major recognition for machinima as a form of art.
Originally founded by Robin Klengel, Leonhard Müllner and Michael Stumpf, Total Refusal describes itself as “a pseudo-marxist media guerilla focused on the artistic intervention and appropriation of mainstream video games. We upcycle video games in order to reveal the political apparatus beyond the glossy and hyperreal textures of this media.”
Read more about Hardly Working
Images and videos courtesy of the Artists
