STAPLERFAHRER KLAUS (2001)

Starting in the ‘80s—with the rise of VHS and promulgation of corporations (and their desire to prevent any workers’ comp or class action lawsuits)—companies turned to videos to instruct their employees on all sorts of matters. The proper way to cook a burger or some other site-specific task. Sexual harassment and other HR nightmares. Basic policies and requirements to check off the necessary standards to remain in compliance with various OSHA regulations or other statutes. But out of this desert of company babble rose an oasis of a delightful sub-genre.

Workplace safety videos are a goddamn goldmine. Well, sometimes. It’s a gamble that might result in utter snoozefest or deliver some ridiculously gruesome reenactments that would make Abel Ferrara blush. Such videos as IT ONLY TAKES A SECOND have been featured on Found Footage Festival and Red Letter Media. Take local actors (or simply willing employees) with a bit of limited range, throw in some ridiculous examples, and then add in a bunch of horrific fake injuries complete with blood and dismemberment and more.

So it makes sense that these would be fodder for an incredible comedy short. In 2001, writers/directors Stefan Prehn and Jörg Wagner created STAPLERFAHRER KLAUS, also known as STAPLERFAHRER KLAUS—DER ERSTE ARBEITSTAG, or FORKLIFT DRIVER KLAUS: THE FIRST DAY ON THE JOB. It starts off in true verisimilitude mode where it could easily be confused as a real corporate safety video. But as the short continues, following Klaus (Konstantin Graudus) using or disregarding all of the safety protocols he’s learned, it simply gets more absurd, more violent, and more hilarious.