Hardly Working by Total Refusal won the European Short Film 2023 at the 36th European Film Awards.

Hardly Working gives priority to characters that normally fade into the background of video games: NPCs. NPCs are non-playable characters that populate hyper real worlds to create the appearance of normality. Usually these digital extras play no major role in the story of the game. 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. Nevertheless, they find their way to resist. What chance is there to break out of capitalism?

The project is part of the EMAP residency programme and was partly realised during Total Refusal's stay at werkleitz in Halle (Saale)