As We’re Told (2017)

Directed by: Erik Holmström, Fredrik Wenzel | 28 minutes | documentary

Even for those who have never been to the Scandinavian country that is growing in popularity as a holiday destination, Sweden has come closer than ever in recent years. In countless books, films and documentaries, the lives of the Swedish inhabitants are explained. In 2016, ‘The Swedish Theory of Love’ showed us how independent Swedish society is thanks to the manifesto The Family of the Future published by the Swedish government in the 1970s. And in the short documentary ‘Lattepappa’s’ (2017) we saw how paternity leave is arranged in the country (spoiler: much better than in the Netherlands!). In ‘As We’re Told’ we get a glimpse of the ins and outs of the Swedish employment office.

The Swedish job center is said to be the most unpopular agency in the country. And in ‘As We’re Told’ we find out in less than half an hour why that is the case and we really can’t help but agree with the Swedish people. The employees have been interviewed, but for security reasons they are not featured in this documentary. Instead, cardboard dolls have been made, with mouths movable by an ingenious mechanism of wire rope, facial features of papier-mâché and moving eyes. The puppets are just short of life size and are operated like hand puppets by the film crew. That’s why you continuously see the film crew’s arms and legs in the picture (except for a single scene in the beginning, never their heads). That looks funny, but in no time you get used to it and as a viewer you manage to focus completely on the characters.

‘As We’re Told’ has a clever set-up: young student Roland is commissioned by Lund University to research the way the employment office works and how decisions are received and implemented. Already in the canteen he is told ‘Simple, we just do what we are told’, and that is the end of the matter for the employee in question. Roland interviews the other benevolent officials and with his dismay the viewer’s height rises. How does this institution still deserve its existence? There is absolutely no question of efficiency. On average, a job coach only employs ten people per year. Ninety percent of all job seekers find a job without calling in the employment office.

With ‘As We’re Told’, Erik Holmström and Fredrik Wenzel (the latter is best known as the cinematographer of ‘Turist’ (2014) and ‘The Square’ (2017)) won the IDFA Special Jury Award for Short Documentary in 2017 in the wait. And that reward is certainly in order. They tell a relevant story in a playful and highly original way. Like a child watching a puppet show, you are completely absorbed in the illusion of this documentary. It is therefore shocking that the employees and the Swedish government itself also seem to live in an illusion.