09/30/2026
Meet Gallatin alum Ksenia Goland (MA '25), whose experimental short film Sleeping Beauty is making its mark on the festival circuit, earning multiple accolades at the Berlin Indie Film Festival, Independent Shorts Awards, and NY Independent Art Film Fest 📽️
đź’ś What was your concentration at Gallatin?
The deconstruction of the female archetype in visual arts, literature, and film.
đź’ś Sleeping Beauty began as part of your MA thesis at Gallatin. What was the process of bringing it from a thesis project to a finished film, and ultimately to the festival circuit?
The process from writing the script to the final edit and sound design took well over a year. We worked as a very small, close-knit team; the collaboration with my cinematographer was at the heart of everything. When we eventually brought the film to the festival circuit, many doors began to open.
đź’ś How did your experience at Gallatin shape you as a filmmaker?
Gallatin gave me something I hadn't quite found anywhere else: the freedom to experiment across mediums and, through that process, discover my own language of storytelling. Sleeping Beauty is an experimental short film, without that freedom, it simply would not exist in the form it does.
đź’ś What is one piece of advice you have for Gallatin students who are aspiring filmmakers?
I'm not sure I'm quite in a position to be giving advice yet, ask me again in ten years :) But if I had to say one thing: if you have a story you want to tell, don't be afraid to tell it in your own way. The "your own way" part is not the obstacle. That's the whole point.
