Kilcullen's Molly needs a little help to finish documentary project

Film-makers Molly Kiely on left and Natalia López de Ayala on right, with Under The Skin choreographer Anastasia Kostner.

A young Kilcullen film-maker working in Holland is seeking financial help towards the costs of finishing a documentary about how dance can be used to deal with the trauma of the pandemic, writes Brian Byrne.

Former CPC student Molly Kiely, in the third year of her degree course in Film and Broadcasting at TU Dublin, has been making the documentary in Utrecht and Amsterdam, with another media student from Madrid, Natalia López de Ayala. A crowdfunding campaign for the €3,000 they require has been 70pc achieved, but they need a final effort to complete it.

Molly is the daughter of Esther and Jim Kiely of Kilcullen, and is in Utrecht for six months as part of her course. She became involved in the documentary about the dance show Under The Skin after Natalia met the Amsterdam-based choreographer and dancer who had put it together, Anastasia Kostner.

Under The Skin involves four dancers, all from different countries, using dance to process and present the difficult emotions which very many people have experienced through the pandemic. "The performance premiered in Amsterdam in September and has been receiving rave reviews," Molly told the Diary. "It presents dance routines expressing the emotions from the traumatic experience of the pandemic — sadness, frustration, anger, loss of control — and the coping mechanisms which many have used to get through it."

Molly and Natalia met with the four dancers just two weeks before the premiere of Under The Skin. It also happened to be the first time the four dancers were in a room together since the project began. "They had developed a lot of their work alone, or with the choreographer individually, so we actually came in just at the right time."

In the documentary, entitled Under Her Skin and which will be about 30 minutes long when finished, Molly and Natalia follow Anastasia's journey from her conception of the show until its actual premiere. "We're following the creative process as a parallel to the emotional journey Anastasia herself endured during lockdown. She talks about how her life changed dramatically with the pandemic — from constantly being on the road with various companies, when covid happened she was essentially confined to one room."

The four dancers in Under The Skin: Sanne Clifford, Francesca Ziviani (back centre), Sandra Kramerova and (front) choreographer Anastasia Kostner. Photo Ira Yugay.

Under The Skin involves four separate solo dance pieces from the performers, each highlighting a separate emotion and coping mechanism. They express losing routine, career uncertainty leading into the depths of the covid uncertainty, the obsessions we got into over hygiene like constant hand-washing, and finally empowerment — "the point of understanding that the virus is continuing, ever growing, ever spreading and we need to go with it, essentially, and let it run its course."

Molly, who says she has been an enthusiast of storytelling for as long as she can remember, had no hesitation in 'jumping into' the project when Natalia suggested it. "I had been planning a project back home in Ireland, but the difficulties of travel in the pandemic were against that. When Natalia came up with this one, it was a no-brainer to get involved."

A budget of €3,000 seems tiny for any film-making project, but Molly and Natalia have been cutting out expense at every level while making their documentary. "We have essentially been a two-person skeleton crew, doing the filming, the sound, and everything else. But to bring the work to a finished level we need to hire in post production specialists, for colour correction and other techniques. The money is also needed to cover equipment hire, and some travel costs."

The first hire just a week or so ago is another former CPC student from Kilcullen, Adam McNamara, who got his Music degree and now specialises in music for film. "We just got the teasers for our project and he's doing a fantastic job. I'm really getting excited to hear what he will have for us."

Molly says the kindness of the online community which has contributed to the funding so far is amazing. "It has really been overwhelming. But we have just nine days to go and I'm reaching out with one final push, to ask for donations of any size to help us do the story the justice that it deserves."

The finished documentary will be entered in film festivals around the world through 2022. If you want to help make this happen, you can donate here. 

Photographs use Policy — Privacy Policy