Mercy
Directed and Animated BY NALANI WILLIAMS
Song by Domino Kirke
““…The accompanying music video, created by artist and animator Nalani Williams, could almost be looked at as an art piece in an exhibit celebrating the magic of when multidisciplinary arts converge to create intriguing and experimental work, both sonically and visually. The animations created by Williams are expertly crafted with bold watercolor paint strokes and stop-motion design, accompanied by abstract shapes, figures and silhouettes.”
ABOUT ‘MERCY’
Layering stop-motion and hand-drawn animation, this experimental piece created for the song “Mercy” by musician Domino Kirke, illuminates—through ethereal landscapes and painterly figures—the grief and loss of miscarriage as metaphor for the shared universal cycle of hope and despair.
Festivals
WINNER
Female Filmmakers Berlin - Best Music Video and Best Animation
Nitehawk Shorts Festival - Grand Jury Prize
Monthly Indie Shorts - Best Music Video
Global Indie Film Fest - Best Music Video
Lisbon CineFest - Best Animatiom
FINALIST
Sweden Film Awards - Best Music Video
International Music Video Awards - Female Director Music Video
Rome Music Video Awards - Best Animation Music Video and Best Female Director Music Video
Munich Music Video Awards - Best Experimental Music Video
SEMI FINALIST
San Francisco Indie Short Festival - Best Music Video
OFFICIAL SELECTION LA Lift Off Film Festival, Prague Independent Film Festival, New Filmmakers Los Angeles, Insomnia Film Festival, Stuttgart Trickfilm International Animated Film Festival, Berlin International Art Film Festival, Venice Shorts, Uninhabited International Film Festival, Munich Video Awards, Hollywood on the Tiber Film Awards
Behind The Scenes
“Mercy” is made up of meticulously crafted miniature sets, hand drawn 2D animation, and VFX compositing. All work by Nalani Williams.
Nalani Williams
Director/Animator
Nalani is an award winning animator and director based in Los Angeles. She received a BFA in animation from the School of Visual Arts and her work has been featured on a number of high profile commercial and TV projects including Honda, Ted Lasso, Fisher Price, Netflix and Spotify. She directed and animated music videos for Domino Kirke, The Stone MGs and Boris.
Nalani creates an otherworldly aesthetic by meticulously integrating miniature landscapes with stop motion and hand painted animation. Abstract in context and expressionistic in style, Nalani makes highly personal and conceptual work that, like a painting, remains open to interpretation.
Domino Kirke
Singer/Songwriter
For Brooklyn-based songwriter/singer Domino Kirke, the entertainment industries have served as a formative part of her existence since childhood. Though she is known both as the daughter of Simon Kirke, drummer for bands including Free and Bad Company, and sister to actresses Jemima (of HBO’s Girls) and Lola (whose credits include Noah Baumbach’s Mistress America and Gone Girl), Domino has forged her own path in music, most prominently with 2014’s Independent Channel and now with her upcoming debut full-length, Beyond Waves. Heralded by Vogue as a “new kind of triple threat” for her work in music and her role as a mother and a doula, Domino has held an active place in the New York music scene for well over a decade.
Press
Domino Kirke returns to music with emotionally powerful “Mercy”
“…The accompanying music video, created by artist and animator Nalani Williams, could almost be looked at as an art piece in an exhibit celebrating the magic of when multidisciplinary arts converge to create intriguing and experimental work, both sonically and visually. The animations created by Williams are expertly crafted with bold watercolor paint strokes and stop-motion design, accompanied by abstract shapes, figures and silhouettes.
While viewing the video, it’s almost as if you are watching the paint on the canvas come to life in real time. However, the biggest takeaway from the video lies in the message it’s representing, with images of childbirth, pregnancy and the pain that comes from experiencing a miscarriage and the grief that’s associated with it.” - Josh Madden, Alternative Press