“Within this tree there is its strengths and its wound- the healed wound creates an opening- a nest- 

All mothers create a holding space for growth – 

We are the fear of not being good enough and the bravery to try anyway

This journey – ever changing- through beauty – joy and pain- we are here

We are what we are “

We are this passage carried on by our children and grandchildren- 

We are the trees in this forest.”

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A collaborative short film project between visual/performance artist Silke Michels and theatre performance artist Simona Roveda. The “Trilogy of Motherhood” film is the result of the motherhood theme exploration with the previous “Out of the Blue” project, inspired by the voices of mothers. 

The Trilogy is created by three blocks of short films: “Mama trees, Building the nest, Woollen threads” filmed in a woodland in Co. Dublin, where a giant nest was built to ceremony the motherhood journey. Using a multidisciplinary and experimental approach in connection with the landscape and our stories, we created a live performance to be filmed. It was not a concept or a storyboard but the powerful relationship between being a mother and the nature that held us… following our feelings in the moment, in a deeper connection with our actions/gestures and the natural sounds surrounding us… All this created a beautiful alchemy for our performance.

The 3-block- film represents three powerful moments of our live performance about being a mother and what we have in common as women. Within the strength of the trees, walking around them, we find our “little girl” memory: the mother and grandmother, the story that we continue to carry on. Building a safe and intimate space with natural elements gives us back the care of the mother, not only for the new born – “holding you, holding on to you” - but also for the mothers healing, with the ceremonial moment of “letting go”. Our journey above the giant nest… walking, weaving, falling, imbalance connect us with our fears and strengths as mothers, the fear of not being good enough and the courage to try anyway, where our breath of joy and pain is joined by a woollen red thread. The natural sounds, our lullaby and poem are the soundtrack of the Trilogy’s film. 

 

Live Performance/Words/Sounds by: Simona Roveda and Silke Michels

Realised by: Silke Michels and Simona Roveda

Camera by Jijo Sebastian 

Editing by: Simona Roveda and Jijo Sebastian 

Supported by Arts Council of Ireland