Happy Hannah (2017)

Directed by: Anne Barnhoorn | 10 minutes | short film, drama | Actors: Rosa van Leeuwen, Martijn Hillenius, Sabrina van Halderen, Tina de Bruin

It’s a phenomenon of our time: on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube we all live the perfect life. Parties with smiling, beautiful people, holidays in sunny places; the bliss bursts forth. Thanks to all kinds of filters, we always look our Easter best. All that is possible in that virtual world. We hide the fact that we sometimes have a bad day, are angry or sad, argue and have pimples and bad hair. Keeping up appearances on social media is something Anne Barnhoorn (1982) doesn’t like. The screenwriter of idiosyncratic films such as ‘De defloration of Eva van End’ (2012) and Golden Calf winner ‘Aanmodderfakker’ (2014) is not ashamed that she sometimes feels depressed. She wrote openly about her depression in her column in Viva. She wrote off her negative feelings, as it were. The characters that appear in her screenplays are close to herself. Not only are they about the same age, they also experience the same feelings and fears. They tiptoe around because they are afraid of failing, going nuts or growing up.

This also applies to Hannah (Rosa van Leeuwen), the lead actress in the ten-minute film ‘Happy Hannah’ (2017), Barnhoorn’s directorial debut. The film is part of the NTR Kort! series, and anyone familiar with Barnhoorn’s work will recognize her distinctive style. 32-year-old Hannah is a well-known vlogger on YouTube, who has a large following. In her vlog called ‘Happy Hannah’, she gives tips on how to keep your relationship exciting. Her friend Victor (Martijn Hillenius) regularly figures. In addition, she has the necessary sponsorship contracts, a manager (Sabrina van Halderen) and a dresser (Tina de Bruin). She seems to have it all together, but looks can be deceiving. Because as soon as the camera goes off, she argues with Victor and herself struggles with the happiness of trying to talk to her followers. As part of the five-year anniversary of her vlog, she has invited ten followers to come and have dinner with her ‘live’. Victor prefers to go on a survival weekend with his friends. Things don’t go as planned, so it’s getting harder for Hannah to keep up appearances.

Irony reigns supreme in ‘Happy Hannah’. This film is socially critical in a comical way. But somewhere it also has something tragic: the vlogster who is so busy with her video messages in which she preaches happiness and perfection, that she forgets to live her real life. In fact; she is being lived, without seeming to realize it herself. This is further underlined in the scene in which she completely collapses during dinner with her fans. They grab their mobile phones en masse to record the events. They seem to have forgotten that Hannah is a real person, with real feelings. She has become public property. How sour is it then that she then falls back into old habits? With this razor-sharp film, Barnhoorn shows that he is not only a gifted screenwriter, but also a talented director. The fine soundtrack by Djurre de Haan is a pleasant bonus.