The Quiet Throughline in This Year’s Sundance Shorts

Recorded live from the Sundance Film Festival, GG Hawkins hosts a roundtable conversation with four short film directors premiering work at the festival: Kelly McCormack (How Brief), Anna Baumgarten (Balloon Animals), Ana Alpízar (Norheimsund), and Anooya Swamy (Pankaja). The filmmakers discuss the origins of their films, navigating production across Cuba, India, Canada, and the U.S., working within (and outside of) film school structures, and the deeply personal themes of grief, mother-daughter relationships, disappearance, and survival that unexpectedly connect their work. In this episode, No Film School’s GG Hawkins and guests discuss… Shooting narrative shorts on location in Havana, Bangalore, Vancouver, and Los Angeles Returning to Cuba to film Norheimsund after seeking asylum in the United States How Pankaja draws from growing up in the slums of Bangalore and confronting personal memory Making a $6,500 microbudget short inside a real grocery store overnight Building a short film over eight years and resisting the “proof of concept” mindset Working within NYU’s film school structure versus creating outside institutional systems Casting mother-daughter dynamics rooted in real-life relationships Designing color theory, texture, cement, and dirt as emotional language Shooting inside real police stations and navigating bureaucracy while telling stories about it Grief as a “big soup of emotions” and balancing melancholy with comedy Collaborating with ride-or-die creative partners Advice for emerging filmmakers about not compromising and trusting instinct Memorable Quotes: “Dreaming doesn’t cost a thing.” “Choosing oblivion.” “We often live really simple lives in complicated worlds.” “You are allowed not to compromise.” Guests: Kelly McCormack – Director, How Brief Anna Baumgarten – Writer/Director, Balloon Animals Ana Alpízar – Director, Norheimsund Anooya Swamy – Writer/Director, Pankaja Find No Film School everywhere: On the Web: No Film School Facebook: No Film School on Facebook Twitter: No Film School on Twitter YouTube: No Film School on YouTube Instagram: No Film School on Instagram📩 Send us an email with questions or feedback: podcast@nofilmschool.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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The Quiet Throughline in This Year’s Sundance Shorts is an episode from The No Film School Podcast by No Film School.

This episode is 58:41 long.

This episode was published on Feb 19, 2026.

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