Warrior

Katie Joan Maguire:

Having lived with an undiagnosed chronic illness for eleven years, I came to know what it
meant to be misunderstood. Driven by a desire for transparency and awareness of what it is
like to live with invisible illness, myself and Aaron Oliver Kelly set out to make a movie that
would offer an honest perspective, inspired by my life experience. I had the goal, to not only
shine a light on the hurdles those fighting a chronic illness face in every area of their life, but
also highlight the resilience and strength required to persevere. Through 'Warrior', I wanted
to depict what it is like trying to live a 'normal' life with an illness that cannot be seen. Millions
of people around the world face discrimination, dismissal and a lack of compassion as a
result of having an invisible illness. Through Jenny's story, I hope to encourage a greater
acceptance of someone who says they are sick, but might not necessarily look like they are.
I long to open up a conversation about how society views these individuals, and offer those
with chronic illness a voice, to be heard and seen... and hopefully, finally understood.

Aaron Oliver Kelly:

Through 'Warrior' I wanted to bring our audience into Jenny's world. Myself and Katie Joan
Maguire's visual approach to achieving this was to have the viewer go on that emotional, and
often uncomfortable, journey with her. Some of the visual and audio techniques used to help
enhance this were a lot of the story being shot static and still, especially for her flashbacks,
remembering the situations she had been put in in the past. My aim was to add to the
tension, making certain scenes have a more claustrophobic feel like an interrogation and
making the viewer feel slightly trapped in that situation with Jenny. The score and how it
sounds is specifically designed to emphasize the way it feels for Jenny during her
flashbacks. In particular I wanted to capture the feelings of dread, confusion and uncertainty
washing over her. At certain moments these scores and audio cues reoccur, alerting viewers
to the fact something is not right or an uncomfortable situation is looming and on its way. I
chose this help the viewer better understand the struggles of feeling like you are not being
heard, feelings of isolation, feeling alone, or not being taken seriously. All of which can not
only help people who have experienced these situations in their own lives feel heard, but
help people who are uninformed have a better understanding of what someone may be
going through under the surface.