Shatter Hassan

Short film in which the filmmaker compares the Moroccan flute player Hassan, who is roaming the streets of Utrecht, with the Arab fairytale character Shatter Hassan, which means Hassan the Smart. While the fairytale character Shatter Hassan that Arab mothers tell their children about is invincible, the real Hassan has been wandering through the city as a nameless junkie for years. In the daytime, he tries to eke out a paltry income by playing his flute, the nights he spends in homeless shelters or in the street. The dreams he had when travelling from Morocco to The Netherlands have not come true. The film shows what it is like to be homeless in a big city, far from home, when the erstwhile ties with the motherland, the native culture and the individual identity seem to be severed.