Private Project

DANIELA (portrait of a ballet dancer)

Ballet is a dream shaped by discipline, an art form where perfection is not just the expectation but the performance itself. It reflects our love for effortlessness and the illusion that it’s easily achieved.

In her portrait, Brazilian-American dancer Daniela Thorne, who danced at Staatsballett Berlin, reflects on her relationship with perfection—the expectations of the audience, the demands of her craft, and the pressures she places on herself. Yet through her movement and words, she claims her artistry, honors her mentorship, and embraces the beauty that defines her journey.

Every creative choice in Daniela’s portrait—from the blend of digital and Super 8 footage to the custom music, set design, and styling—reflects her inner world, her story, and a love for ballet that is as delicate as it is unyielding.

  • Daniela Thorne
    Key Cast
  • Noam Kaestner
    Director
  • Daniela Thorne
    Writer
  • Noam Kaestner
    Writer
  • Zoe Akihary
    Producer
  • Marius Hohrein
    Producer
  • Zoe Akihary
    Art Director
  • Amaya Benbow
    Director of Photography
  • Gerrit Fahr
    Gaffer
  • Liam Raeder
    Sound
  • Nora Rida
    Set Design
  • Sasha Tulen
    Wardrobe
  • Margarita Zaytenseva
    Wardrobe Assistant
  • Alina Tupolova
    Hair Stylist
  • Marius Hohrein
    Editor
  • Çağla Polat
    Assistant Editor
  • Florian Metzner
    Color Grading
  • Tommy Lee John
    Online
  • Catherine Weber
    Online
  • Kody Chambers
    Composer
  • Miklós Kovács
    Music Mix
  • Alexander Dick
    Sound Design & Mix
  • Project Type:
    Documentary, Experimental, Other
  • Genres:
    Dance, Portrait, Documentary
  • Runtime:
    2 minutes 57 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    January 17, 2025
  • Production Budget:
    1,500 EUR
  • Country of Origin:
    Germany
  • Country of Filming:
    Germany
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital, Super 8
  • Aspect Ratio:
    5:3
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Noam Kaestner

Noam Kaestner is a multidisciplinary creative driven to create meaningful work that sets an example for representation, particularly in the areas of mental health and sexuality. He developed a fascination for film at a young age. After graduating from art school, he moved to Amsterdam to study fashion marketing at a renowned fashion school (Amsterdam Fashion Institute). There, he focused on visual culture and worked on fashion films, discovering his passion for directing.

After winning a D&AD New Blood Award and interning at Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam, where he worked on the Nike account, he was able to set foot as a copywriter and creative in advertising at AKQA Berlin (Global Network of the Year and People's Choice Winner in the Creativepool Annual 2024). He learned to develop creative copy, write scripts, and work closely with directors to produce commercials. He worked on projects for clients like Nike, Tommy Hilfiger, Bugaboo, and Estrid. His novel STORM, written in 2021 and self-published in 2024, went viral on Goodreads, with over 15,000 Want to Read tags.

Noam's goal is to focus on narrative projects in the future to address topics such as mental health and identity.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

When we call ourselves perfectionists, we usually mean we’re detail-oriented, ambitious, maybe a little obsessive. But true perfectionism isn’t just about being precise. It’s the inability to accept anything short of an ideal we’ve constructed in our heads. It goes beyond work ethic or discipline. It’s a state of being where every action, every choice, has to measure up. It’s not a challenge or a diet or a decision. It’s a voice that doesn’t quiet down, a set of rules that tighten the moment they’re broken.

And yet, perfection is always an outward illusion. It’s an image we project because the way we are—by nature, by birth—isn’t considered enough by society. But real perfection isn’t just about precision. It’s about effortlessness. If it doesn’t look like second nature, it isn’t perfect enough.

That’s why ballet fascinates me. It’s the purest reflection of this paradox. It looks light, weightless, effortless, but only because it isn’t. The expectation isn’t just to be perfect but to make perfection invisible. If a dancer looks like they’re trying, they’ve already failed. If they make it too perfect, they risk being called cold, robotic, boring. And so, perfection itself becomes an art.