What they needed

In 2018, we were working with the newly founded Dublin City Council Culture Company on a project called Joyful Noise. The project brought together a music artist and a group of young people with an intellectual disability to form a choir, meeting weekly to rehearse towards a live performance at the Sugar Club in Dublin City.

The aim was to support the creative process and to document the journey from early rehearsals through to the final public performance, capturing both the work involved and the experience of the participants.

What we did

When we began, we didn’t fully know what the project would become — and that was part of what drew us in. Kilian had previous experience working with WALK, an organisation focused on building inclusive communities, who were a key stakeholder in the project, but beyond that we arrived with an open mind and a camera.

We attended rehearsals week by week, observing, listening, and allowing the story to reveal itself as relationships formed and confidence grew. Rather than imposing a structure, we followed the rhythm of the project as it unfolded, gradually shaping a narrative around commitment, collaboration, and anticipation.

The resulting short documentary is something we remain very proud of. It is full of warmth, humour, and genuine joy, but it also carries a real sense of tension as the group moves closer to the final performance. By staying with the process, we were able to capture not just the event itself, but the shared effort and emotional build-up that made it meaningful.