Kielo
Neurodivergence, Sisterhood, and the Poetic Body
Directed by Janina Rajakangas and Sinem Kayacan
Words by Katie Huelin
Kielo is a beautifully introspective, sensory-driven film that follows a young girl who struggles to sit still in class and instead drifts into the corridors of her imagination. Produced as part of Zodiak Visions, a platform by Zodiak – Center for New Dance, inviting choreographers and filmmakers to reimagine stage works for the screen, the film takes its starting point from Janina Rajakangas’ stage piece Dancer for young audiences.
Directed by choreographer Janina Rajakangas and filmmaker Sinem Kayacan, Kielo explores themes of neurodivergence, belonging, and peer connection through movement, image, and sound rather than dialogue. For Rajakangas, the work is deeply personal, created with and inspired by her daughter, while Kayacan’s visual language, shaped by her own sensory experiences, amplifies the film’s shifting intensity between unease, release, and care.
At the heart of the film is dancer Kielo Kivinen, whose performance embodies both vulnerability and raw strength, balancing the everyday with the poetic. Together, the trio have crafted a work that is at once intimate and expansive, offering audiences a chance to see how dance can reveal what words sometimes can’t.
Kielo is a beautifully introspective and sensory-driven film. What was the starting point for the project, and how did the idea evolve between you both as co-directors?
Sinem: Kielo is part of a larger project called Zodiak Visions, by Zodiak-Center for New Dance, where filmmakers/visual artists and choreographers have been invited to come together to re-imagine the stage productions; as film. Zodiak is a contemporary dance production house, presenting multiple premieres every year, and I work in Zodiak for creation of visual materials for/from these performances. Kielo is re-imagined from Janina’s stage work Dancer, which I shot a video teaser for as well. I thought Janina’s work lends itself into the cinematic medium so naturally, due to its intimately detailed choreographic material that revels in both narrative and abstract visual terms. So, together we decided to make a film, taking its starting point from Dancer for young audiences.
Janina: The starting point was to make a film for youth audiences, that looked at belonging and not belonging to a peer group for various reasons. I also wanted to work with my 15-year-old child to create a film based on her experiences.
The film explores themes of neurodivergence, support, and peer connection through movement and sound. How did you approach portraying these complex ideas without traditional dialogue?
Janina: In the film we portray senses of growing unease, an escape, a release of energies held within, a moment of being seen, gentleness and care etc. For me they are easily identifiable and have no need for a traditional dialogue. We made sure the film has a somewhat narrative line so the story of Kielo can be understood without words. I might even think that traditional dialogue could simplify the complexity of these moments in a person's life too much.
Sinem: Agreeing with Janina, I find that images, movement and particularly moving images have a more nuanced and compelling way of revealing complexities of life, in comparison to traditional spoken language.
“I wanted to imagine an easier world, and that’s when imagination and surreal came in.”
The choreography feels deeply personal and emotionally grounded — almost trance-like at times. Janina, how did you work with Kielo Kivinen to develop movement that felt both symbolic and authentic to her?
Janina: The choreography is deeply personal to me and I made the film out of love for my daughter so, I guess it shows. In addition I always try to be very precise with what I want to communicate with choreography so that the dancer performing it can help me get the message through. And I must say that Kielo is a beautiful and intelligent dancer, who makes anything I give her a raw and moving experience.
Sinem, as a visual artist with a strong interest in performativity and embodied knowledge, how did you approach the visual language of Kielo? The clean, bright, yet minimal aesthetic plays a strong role.
Sinem: Being a neurodivergent person with sensory issues myself, I have a very precarious relationship with light. As a visual artist working with the videographic medium that is dependent on the abundance of light; I welcome it. At the same time, I need to constantly be cognizant of and in negotiation with it.
For Kielo, I wanted bright lights to be present throughout the film, to bring out the constant feeling of this intensity, whereas the shifting between warmness and coldness of these bright lights mediates the movement between being engulfed or embraced by this intensity.
There’s a striking unity between breath, sound, and movement in the film. Can you speak about how you approached sound design and rhythm to complement the choreography?
Janina: I have worked for a while closely with sound designer Tuuli Kyttälä. We are interested in combining live sound made by the dancers to sound composed by Tuuli. She also works on the dramaturgy of pieces with me, so sound and movement are always interlinked and create a strong unity when we work together. For Kielo we knew we wanted a song with lyrics describing neurodivergent experiences, so my daughter wrote that together with Tuuli, a drumming that is like the speed at which thoughts or impulses can come to your head, and a scene where the performers are making sound with tambourines attached to their bodies. We worked at movement and sound together, so the combination of the two would describe the experiences we wanted to get across.
The film is rooted in a school setting but also transports viewers into an imaginative space through the movement. Why was it important to ground this story in a familiar environment but also move into the surreal through dance?
Janina: I am interested in trying to understand how dance comes from what we encounter in the everyday. That’s why starting for a realistic school setting was important. At the same time, I wanted to imagine an easier world, and that’s when imagination and surreal came in.
Sinem: We visited different types of school building with Janina during the pre-production. I think the familiarity of this environment intuitively triggers the urge to join Kielo’s escape, for many of us at least.
“Images, movement and particularly moving images have a more nuanced and compelling way of revealing complexities of life.”
What do you hope viewers take away from Kielo?
Sinem: A sense of togetherness and being seen would be nice.
What's next for you both?
Janina: I am working on a stage piece with children and professional dancers called Floor is Lava. It is a space for shared reflection on a world shaped by crisis and on the human impact on other species and one another. It will premiere this coming Autumn in Helsinki.
Sinem: I continue making video works and short films, collaborating with artists in the performance and contemporary dance fields.
Director, Choreographer Janina Rajakangas
Film Director Sinem Kayacan
Lead Performer Kielo Kivinen
Re-Imagined From Janina Rajakangas’ Stage Work Dancer
Artistic Collaborators Volta Rajakangas-Moussaoui, Tuuli Kyttälä
Supporting Performers
Aava Hirvanen
Meeti Assefa
Mea Holappa
Mimosa Paloniemi
Siiri Toivanen
Volta Rajakangas-Moussaoui
Assistant Director Mariangela Pluchino
Director Of Photography Theofanis Kavvadas
Ist Ac Henrik Leppänen Gaffer Simo Friman
Grip Joonas Saine
Bestboy Leevi Pienihäkkinen
Assistant Grip Litu Virmavirta
Sound Designer Tuuli Kyttälä
Piano Track
Performance, Vocals, Lyrics Volta Rajakangas-Moussaoui
Composition Volta Rajakangas-Moussaoui, Tuuli Kyttälä
Drum Track Level 2 Cadence - Cassidy Byars / Freedrummusic.Com
Production Sound Recordist, Foley, Re-Recording Mixer, Supervising Sound Editor,
Salla Hämäläinen / Aino Sound - Kalevala Studio
Mixing Consultant Sami Sarhamaa
Editing Atte Merikallio / Askel Company
Color Grading Juhani Vuorisalo / Gradeone
Titles/ Credits Sinem Kayacan
Master Copies, Dcp Teijo Pellinen / Kinokki
Costume Artist Kirsi Gum
Costume Artist On Set Annika Saloranta
Hair, Make-Up Artist Anu Levy
Set Photographer Anna Poleteli
Production Coordinators Ali Al-Saffu, Teemu Turunen
Producer Zodiak - Center For New Dance
Production Partner Palo Art Productions
Production Managers Johanna Flander, Jenni Tulitie
Zodiak Visions Project Managers Ari Tenhula, Sinem Kayacan
Accounting Elina Ruoho-Kurola /Zodiak
Catering Samra Sabanovic / Kahvila Verso
Equipment Valofirma & Zodiak
Location Kulosaari Secondary School
Special Thanks To Lauri Halla, Head Of School
Copyright Zodiak - Center For New Dance 2025