Title: Carry On

Year: 2021

Runtime: 10 minutes 25 seconds

Format: Short Documentary

Genre: Observational / Music

Location: Sandwich, England

Language: English

Starring: Kyanna Hayes

Director: Zac Wichlei

Production: University College London (UCL)

Film Overview

Carry On is a short observational documentary following Kyanna, a British musician, as she navigates creativity, mental health, and uncertainty after the COVID-19 pandemic upended her career and personal life.

Synopsis

Carry On follows Kyanna, a singer-songwriter from a small English seaside town, as she rebuilds her creative life after the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted her career, housing, and long-term relationship. Recently returned home, Kyanna moves between domestic spaces, songwriting sessions, and the recording studio, using music as both livelihood and emotional anchor.

Rather than offering a narrative of resolution or success, Carry On observes a moment of transition, a portrait of perseverance in which progress is measured not by outcomes but by continuation. Through an observational approach and sound-led editing, the film foregrounds process, presence, and emotional labour, capturing what it means to keep creating when certainty disappears.

Director’s Statement

Carry On emerged from a shared moment of uncertainty. As creatives navigating the pandemic, both Kyanna and I were experiencing disruption, loss of momentum, and a re-evaluation of what it meant to continue making work.

The film adopts an observational approach, prioritising presence over exposition. Much of Kyanna’s story is communicated through process — songwriting, repetition, and sound — rather than retrospective explanation. The edit relies heavily on sound design and audio transitions to suggest the passage of time and emotional continuity, particularly where visuals alone were insufficient.

Rather than framing struggle as something to be overcome, Carry On sits with it. The film resists neat resolution in favour of honesty, focusing on the quiet, often unseen work of continuing — creatively, emotionally, and practically.

Influences

• Sympathy for the Devil (Jean-Luc Godard)

• Company (D. A. Pennebaker)

• Gaga: Five Foot Two (Chris Moukarbel)

• Matangi / Maya / M.I.A (Steve Loveridge)