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As We're Told Poster
SE
9.0 0h 28m

As We're Told

"It's simple! We do as we're told." This disconcerting reply comes from a Swedish employment office employee when asked how the country’s most unpopular government agency works. And that’s not all: in this creative documentary, case workers, receptionists and psychologists reveal how the Swedish employment system is failing. They complain about inadequate software and mystifying error messages, excessive caseloads and demoralizing results—on average, each case worker helps just 10 people find work each year, and only one in 10 clients will find a new job. To assure the anonymity of the interviewees, they're all represented by cardboard puppets. Thanks to visible puppeteers, expressive eyes and recognizable gestures, these puppets quickly take on the appearance of real people. The result is a fascinating, comical and artistic study of human strategies to get along in an irrational bureaucracy.

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Top Cast

  • Nils Dernevik

    Nils Dernevik

  • Leif Andrée

    Leif Andrée

    (voice)

  • Henrik Dorsin

    Henrik Dorsin

    (voice)

  • Andrea Edwards

    Andrea Edwards

  • Per Grytt

    Per Grytt

  • Maria Kulle

    Maria Kulle

    (voice)

  • Malin Morgan

    Malin Morgan

  • David Rangborg

    David Rangborg

    (voice)

  • Anna Takanen

    Anna Takanen

    (voice)

Overview

"It's simple! We do as we're told." This disconcerting reply comes from a Swedish employment office employee when asked how the country’s most unpopular government agency works. And that’s not all: in this creative documentary, case workers, receptionists and psychologists reveal how the Swedish employment system is failing. They complain about inadequate software and mystifying error messages, excessive caseloads and demoralizing results—on average, each case worker helps just 10 people find work each year, and only one in 10 clients will find a new job. To assure the anonymity of the interviewees, they're all represented by cardboard puppets. Thanks to visible puppeteers, expressive eyes and recognizable gestures, these puppets quickly take on the appearance of real people. The result is a fascinating, comical and artistic study of human strategies to get along in an irrational bureaucracy.

Rating

9.0 / 10
1 Reviews
0 Popular

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