Danielle McCormack, who goes by the moniker Dani, is an award-winning Irish filmmaker. Her latest project—The Key—tells the story of a Dublin teenager who goes on a spiritual quest through a local forgotten portal in Killiney, The Druid's Chair. From her favourite film to the book she returns to time and again, Dani shares her life in culture with us below.
The last thing I saw and loved… L’Opera in the South of France. It’s a dining experience where they put on amazing performances. The dancers and costumes were incredibly sexy. The whole thing was very entertaining with most people dancing on the tables and chairs by the end of it.
The book I keep coming back to… A Course in Miracles. My favourite spiritual text for helping me get out of my ego and into my heart.
I find inspiration in… everything. I could watch a slug trying to cross the path up close and feel mesmerised.
My favourite film is… The NeverEnding Story. The most perfect example of the hero’s journey in a movie in my opinion.
My career highlight is… I love street art so I can’t talk about my favourite art installation for legal reasons!
The song I listen to to get in the zone is… “Holding Out for a Hero” by Bonnie Tyler. It reminds me I need to be my own hero.
The last book I recommended is… Love is Letting Go of Fear, a spiritual book by Jerry Jampolsky.
I never leave the house without… my sparkle. It’s an acronym I made up to remind me of the intentions I want to live by; smile and surrender, peace and presence, alignment, releasing the past, kindness, love, energy. While I may leave the house with these great intentions, the results can sometimes be disastrous.
The piece of work I still think about is… I spend a lot of time thinking about and studying the origins of the bible. As one of the most influential works in human history, I am fascinated by finding out who actually wrote each of the different books within the bible, trying to discern how factually correct they are and, most importantly, determine how God was supposed to have verified that these are their actual words and rules they allegedly want humanity to follow.
My dream cast would be… I think a movie with all the Disney princesses grown-up would be so fun. Miley Cryus, Ariana Grande, Selena Gomez, Olivia Rodrigo, etc.
The best advice I’ve ever gotten is… if you want inner peace you need to learn how to forgive. It’s the message of the film The Key, but like most spiritual wisdom, it can feel incredibly hard for me to actually do sometimes but I do feel better when I can actually forgive. It can be even harder to try and forgive ourselves for our own transgressions.
The art that means the most to me is… anything that Banksy does makes me smile.
My favourite moment in this film is… around 12 minutes and 45 seconds in when the heroine returns from her quest a changed person.
The most challenging thing about being in film is… the tenacity you need. If you want to make a film, it’s a multi-year-long quest where you will face so much rejection, people throwing tomatoes at you, setbacks, delays, being let down and possible starvation but you just have to stick to your vision and sparkle.
If I wasn’t a filmmaker, I would… hopefully be trying to help the planet in another meaningful way. Gary Renard, a spiritual teacher, told me we won’t have world peace until we all have inner peace so finding ways to make a peaceful and loving world really interests me.
The magic of film to me is… that you get immersed inside the world of someone’s imagination and there is usually an interesting lesson to be learned. If they can make you laugh, smile, inspire you or change your mood, that’s even better.
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