Hacking at Leaves

Hacking at Leaves is a 2024 Austrian documentary film directed and written by Johannes Grenzfurthner. It explores various themes including the United States' colonial past, Navajo tribal history, and the hacker movement, through the lens of the story of a hackerspace in Durango, Colorado, during the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. The film was produced by monochrom.

Plot
Hacking at Leaves features Austrian artist and filmmaker Johannes Grenzfurthner as both host and director, blending documentary and fiction to delve into themes of optimism, freedom, settler colonialism, pandemics, and societal collapse within the American context.

The film introduces a fictional element to convey its message. Grenzfurthner, clad in a yellow radiation suit, sits in a 1970s-style control room (which he refers to as his "flat"), contemplating whether he should create a documentary about a makerspace in Durango, Colorado. This makerspace played a pivotal role in the global response to COVID-19 by producing medical equipment for the hard-hit Navajo Nation. However, Grenzfurthner is deterred by the thought that the content might be too depressing, and he doubts his ability to "sell it to Netflix." Uncle Sam (performed by Max Grodénchik) appears, demanding that Grenzfurthner create an 'invigorating tale' about the 'spirit of freedom, the endless beauty of the American Southwest, and a forceful statement against collapse.' He seeks a 'true American story.' Reluctantly, Grenzfurthner agrees to make the documentary, albeit with the intention of educating the audience about the downsides of the "American story" and colonialism. He navigates the complexities of these subjects, incorporating perspectives from activists, artists, and tech enthusiasts. The film draws connections between the Navajo community, hacker culture, and the DIY movement, suggesting that alternative approaches could facilitate societal transformation: "This is a story about communities. It narrates not only the history of the Navajo Community and its struggles but also the history of hacking and hackerspaces and how such communities function within mainstream culture."

In an article in the Austrian magazine Profil, Grenzfurthner addresses the importance of the Overton window in discussing the contents of his documentary.

Cast

 * Johannes Grenzfurthner as Himself
 * Max Grodénchik as Uncle Sam
 * Morningstar Angeline as an anonymous anarcho-syndicalist Navajo hacker
 * Chase Masterson as two anonymous medical professionals

Interviewees include Ryan Finnigan, Sunny Dooley, Stefan Yazzie, Jello Biafra, Cory Doctorow, Janene Yazzie, Karletta Chief, Erik Davis, Michael J. Epstein, Mitch Altman, Jason Scott, and many others.

Production
Grenzfurthner began working on the film in March 2020 and managed to collect all the interviews before the end of 2020. Due to the travel ban preventing Europeans from entering the United States, the director oversaw the shooting and interviewing processes remotely from his office in Vienna. He later began assembling the footage received from various collaborators with editor Sebastian Schreiner.

Grenzfurthner worked with Navajo cultural advisors like Manuelito Wheeler of the Navajo Nation Museum.

The framing story was filmed in the winter of 2020/2021 at the Zwentendorf Nuclear Power Plant and in No Name City, a former Western theme park in Wöllersdorf-Steinabrückl.

Before the film's release but after completing principal photography, Grenzfurthner hosted an exhibition in Anger, Styria in May 2021 to showcase parts of his research.

The film was supported by the Austrian Ministry of Culture as part of its program to support innovative film.

Distribution
The film's world premiere took place at the Diagonale Film Festival in Graz, Austria, on April 6, 2024. Film festivals like Ethnocineca (Vienna) also screened the film. The United States premiere will be at the Hackers on Planet Earth conference in July 2024.

Reception
Bradley Gibson of Film Threat gave the film 8/10 and summarizes that the film "explores the corruption eating away at the core of American social and political structures and provides yet another example of capitalism's dismal failures." Journalist and media researcher Philipp Stadelmaier states, "This is not just about creating a 'movie,' but a toolkit that inspires DIY action. Anyone who wants to avert the apocalypse must let themselves be introduced to the technique of leaf hacking by Grenzfurthner, which aims to finally uproot a system that has been rotten for a long time." Der Standard writes: "The wild essay Hacking at Leaves by Johannes Grenzfurthner explores the connection between Indigenous Americans and hacking culture, uncovering the original colonial sin of the USA."