The story of little Hans (videowork excerpt)
The story of little Hans / 2014
The film version of the old and never written Austrian tale, "Die Geschichte des kleinen Hans".
National identity is often perceived as a static affair. It’s a given, the ideal material for jokes and swear talk. Daniel Djamo unveils precisely this preconception, that is the permanence of identity, and deliberately borders on the ridicule to show identity as a work in progress, even more so in the light of the recent humanitarian crisis. The film is based on the fairy-tale collected by the Brothers Grimm, in which the protagonist, ironically named Clever Hans, loses all the gifts from his fiancée, eventually her as well, because he doesn't know how what to make of them. At the same time, knowingly or not, the film recalls Sigmund Freud’s case study in which a boy, Hans, develops a fear of castration (manifested as a fear of horses), as well as the Clever Hans Effect, wherein researchers can involuntarily influence their subjects’ behaviour according to their expectations of the outcome. Therefore, Djamo’s ironic reinterpretation unveils a fear towards a loss of potency, an incapacity to appreciate and manage the gifts i.e. privileges received and a tendency to involuntarily imprint patterns of behaviour on others, proving itself as a multi-layered and incisive political commentary. (Diana Mereoiu, BIEFF 2017)
story and director: Daniel Djamo
DOPs: Sana Ghobbeh, Huda Takriti and Daniel Djamo
acting team: Sana Ghobbeh, Sujin Lim, Huda Takriti, Wu Wei & Daniel Djamo
narrator: Tatev Sahakyan
duration: 7 minutes
The story of little Hans (the feast) / 2014
Visitors of the "transcendental translations of today" exhibition eating Austrian pasta.