My Name is Janez Janša

“A proper name is a word that answers the purpose of showing what thing it is that we are talking about but not of telling anything about it”. (John Stuart Mill in A System of Logic (1. ii. 5.))

A name. Everybody has one. Individuals, artists and academics from all over the world share their thoughts about the meaning and purpose of one’s name from both private and public perspectives. The problem of homonymy and other reasons for changing one’s name are explored as the film draws references from history, popular culture and individual experiences, leading us to the case of a name change that caused a stir in the small country of Slovenia and beyond.

In 2007 three artists joined the conservative Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS) and officially changed their names to that of the leader of that party, the Prime Minister of Slovenia, Janez Janša. While they renamed themselves for personal reasons, the boundaries between their lives and their art began to merge in numerous and unforeseen ways.
Signified as an artistic gesture, this particular name change provoked a wide range of interpretations in art circles both in Slovenia and abroad, as well as among journalists and the general public.
featuring

The documentary features a great deal of internationally known names, among them UBERMORGEN.COM, Vuk Ćosić, Franco and Eva Mattes, Jan Fabre, Stephen Kovats, Tim Etchells, Vaginal Davis, Mladen Dolar, and, last but not least… Janez Janša, Janez Janša and Janez Janša.

Formats used in the documentary range from HDV to Beta, miniDV, Internet videos and low-resolution clips recorded with cell phones. Shooting strategies vary from professional recordings to hidden cameras since the footage includes unpublished material, the making-of and backstage shots of some of the artistic actions carried out by the three artists, interviews, reports and clips from televisions’ archives and interviews, statements and scenes recorded ad hoc for the documentary.

Technical sheet:
HD / 68 min / Color / Sound 5.1 / 2012 / Slovenia

Web page of the film: http://www.mynameisjanezjansa.com/