SXSW 2025 - Grandma's Four Color Cards and Ben's Sister

Welcome back to SXSW 2025! Today’s episode celebrates two beautifully shot short films with different messages about family and community.

Grandma’s Four Color Cards follows a 101 year-old woman in Saigon as she runs nightly card games with her friends, and is supported by the people in her community. Director Sally Tran joined us to discuss how everyone in the film was cast to play themselves (including her own grandmother!), the excitement and confusion that came with working with people from a small village who have probably never watched a film, and the hilarious thing her grandmother did when she felt a crew member’s beard for the first time.

Ben’s Sister shows what happens when Ben, a high school Senior fuckboy, finds out that his sister, a Freshman, becomes a pawn in his friend’s scheme to win a Senior Scavenger Hunt. Director/writer Emma Weinswig and her brother/star of the film Ben Weinswig join us to share how the story was based on their real life experience going to high school in Mill Valley, CA, the connection between rich kids and cultural appropriation, and their working relationship as brother and sister.

Follow director Sally Tran on IG

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This episode is co-hosted by John Wildman of Films Gone Wild

Audio produced by Jeff Hunt of Storied: SF