“My Little Sandman”

Film (3:58)

Screened as WIP at PAF, St. Erme 
July 24, 2021

Completed: April 28, 2023

Film Synopsis: Twentieth century Swiss developmental psychologist Jean Piaget determined that an infant reached a pivotal stage of development when they were able to act as if an object (or person) had a permanent existence outside of their perception. The test Piaget constructed to determine if object permanence is reached is conducted as follows: take an object from the child and obscure it, if the child goes looking for it, then the child understands the object’s existence does not hinge on their perception. Piaget relies on two ideas: that of the fully differentiated self, and that of permanence. My Little Sandman questions these premises while using Paiget’s model by suspending it in relationship. What good is object permanence when proximity is what is desired? How can a parent, in this case a cowboy who desires motherhood, relate to a child struggling to understand his own impermanence? In “My Little Sandman,” our protagonist confronts Piaget’s object permanence in the old west.