Not far from the touristy center of Ljubljana, Slovenia, there is a small space where hope and anger coexist: the Workers’ Advisory Office. There, migrants from Bosnia, Croatia, or Serbia seek answers to the abuses of companies that take advantage of their vulnerability. The Thing to Be Done, the new documentary by Srđan Kovačević, presented at DOK Leipzig, delves into this microcosm of everyday struggle, exposing the cracks in Europe’s labor system after the pandemic.
Kovačević, who had already captured the pulse of the working class in Factory to the Workers, once again explores resistance from the ground up. This time, he follows three key figures: Goran Zrnić, a former electrician turned lawyer; Goran Lukić, a tireless union activist; and Laura Orel, a social worker. In their chaotic office, surrounded by piles of papers and constantly ringing phones, they attend to people who arrive filled with fear, doubts, and often a deep sense of injustice. Their work is neither heroic nor spectacular: it consists of offering information, advice, and legal support—tools that enable workers to defend themselves.
The film avoids easy sentimentality and immerses itself in the rawness of daily life. We see Zrnić explaining that no one should accept unpaid overtime, or Orel encouraging a cleaner who decides to confront her boss. These seemingly small moments become powerful symbols of dignity. The camera observes without interfering, letting silences, glances, and exhaustion speak for themselves. Kovačević does not position himself as a savior; his gaze is that of someone who accompanies, with respect, the fragility and strength of his subjects.
In a Europe where precariousness masquerades as opportunity, the film reveals how migrant status is used to justify abuse. Workers, fearful of losing their jobs or being deported, accept unacceptable conditions. A graffiti on the wall—“Go back to the Sava River”—reminds us that racism and contempt still linger. Yet there are also moments of victory, such as when the team helps a group of outsourced workers file a lawsuit against a port that had fired them. It is not an epic triumph, but rather a recognition: a spark of justice within a system that usually denies it.
The Thing to Be Done combines patient observation with an undercurrent of rebellion. There are no red flags or Marxist slogans, but a renewed form of solidarity—practical rather than ideological. Zrnić sums up a generation’s disillusionment when he says, “Tito is dead,” evoking a past when work meant community. Today, state and union structures seem to serve corporations more than people. Against this backdrop, Kovačević portrays a new form of resistance: that of shared knowledge, of law turned into a political tool.
In the end, what remains is a blend of exhaustion and hope. The documentary resonates with what Antonio Gramsci called “the optimism of the will”: the belief that, despite the system’s harshness, it is still possible to fight. The Thing to Be Done not only documents precarity, but also the stubborn dignity of those who, amid papers and phone calls, continue to believe that justice is not a luxury—but a necessity.
