“Norheimsund” is a 12-minute short from Cuban Writer/Director Ana Alpizar. It is making its North American Premiere at Sundance after its World Premiere on September 4, 2025 at the 82nd Venice International Film Festival’s Sala Giardino. It premiered at 9 p.m.at the Park City Library Theatre at Sundance on 1/26/2026.

Ana is a native of Cuba. Her first short “Fisherman” screened at Sundance in 2017 and played a significant role gaining her asylum in the United States. “Norheimsund” took her back to Cuba to shoot the film. It is the authentic vibe of shooting in the streets of Cuba that makes the film  special. The director’s knowledge of Cuba shines through and informs the project. Ana is currently studying for her MFA at NYU’s Tisch School and this film was part of her 2nd year curriculum.

PLOT

Paula Masso Varela as Yamita in “Norheimsund”at Sundance. (Photo courtesy of Sundance Film Institute).

 

The synopsis reads: “A girl’s long-distance romance with an older Norwegian man promises to pull her and her mother from their austere life in Cuba, but her dreams are shaken when she realizes he isn’t as idyllic as he seems.”

DIRECTORS’ STATEMENT

Alpizar admits that the original impetus for the film was a story she had heard in Cuba about  a young Cuban girl who is taken to a Scandinavian country by her much older suitor. The suitor removes the girl’s  eyes to transplant to his sightless daughter and then sends the Cuban girl back to her native country, poor and blind.

Yamita (Paula Masso Varela) and Pocahontas (Darianis Palenzuela) in “Norheimsund” at Sundance. (Photo courtesy of Sundance Film Festival.)

Says Alpizar, “Since I was a child, I grew up hearing that story and hearing stories about sixty year-old Europeans who, essentially, bought exotic Cuban brides with the promise of a better life. These women were the Cinderellas of post-Soviet Cuba, seen as heroines not only for having escaped the island’s agonizing reality, but also for their potential to become providers for their families from abroad.

Unfortunately, those stories aren’t just distant memories; they still reflect the painful everyday reality of thousands of Cuban women today. “Norheimsund” is precisely an invitation into that bittersweet world, a door opened to a place where the brutality of circumstance can render deeply human even that which, in another context, would be unforgivable.

This story was born out of a desire to tell an intimate tale of mutual sacrifice between a mother and daughter, two women who carry the weight of each other’s expectations and broken dreams, trapped in a country where hope seems to have faded long ago.”

“Norheimsund” at Sundance. (Photo courtesy of Sundance Film Institute).

“Norheimsund” deals with the reality of life in poverty-stricken Cuba, where a pretty girl can leverage her beauty to enthrall Scandinavian men and, hopefully, receive financial support. Alpizar, herself refers to it as pseudo prostitution in Cuba.

The beautiful young girl in this 12 minute film is Yamita (Paula Masso Varela). She is talking with Sven, far away in Norway, with her mother Yaima’s (Yaite Ruiz) encouragement. This arrangement, where a young girl must  use her sexuality and beauty to “earn” money for her impoverished Cuban family, is commonplace.

POCAHONTAS

Unfortunately, Yamita is not the only beautiful young Cuban girl hoping to ensnare a Norweigan benefactor. The equally lovely Maibelbi (Darianis Palenzuela), also known as Pocahontas, has also been talking to Sven.  Yamita feels she is being two-timed.

“Norheimsund” at Sundance. (Photo courtesy of Sundance Film Institute).

When confronted, Pocahontas quickly acknowledges her conversations with the mysterious Sven. In fact, we learn that Sven sent the money for an air conditioner to be installed in Maibelbi’s godmother’s Cuban bedroom. Pocahontas treats the situation as completely normal, laying it on the line very realistically. She tells Yamita: “These foreigners stink so bad, fucking them ain’t easy.”

THE HEAT

Another character in the twelve-minute short is the unrelenting Cuban heat.

“Norheimsund” at Sundance. (Photo courtesy of Sundance Film Institute.)

The director, in a “Rialta” August 10, 2025 interview, “I’m traumatized by the heat and by those fans that don’t blow any air and that you have to hang on to to get them started.” The weak fan in Yamita’s home is dubbed Panchito. It gives up the ghost by the end of the short. Said Alpizar, “I think the heat is a state of mind, one that makes Cuban reality even more agonizing.”

QUESTIONS

Early in the short one of the women in the beauty shop comments that if you speak English, it makes things much easier. One wonders why all of the women who are seeking a rich Sugar Daddy  abroad don’t attempt to become proficient in English? When, exactly, are the girls in physical proximity to these Norwegian men?

Travel to Cuba has been restricted for U.S. residents for some time, although I have one friend who was able to visit during the years that the Obama administration allowed a loophole for cruise ship visitors to the island nation. Is it easier for Scandinavian residents to travel to Cuba?

“Norheimsund” at Sundance. (Photo courtesy of Sundance Film Institute).

Given Pocahontas’ remarks I think the answer must be yes. The only Cuban girl that seems to have been taken back to Norway to live permanently is Camila, whose Norwegian family we hear about secondhand. I would have liked more information about how often and when Norwegians visit Cuba.

I thoroughly enjoyed the twelve minutes of Cuban life in “Norheimsund” and I will  enjoy a longer film from Writer/Director Alpizar about modern life in Cuba. I’ll be watching for more films from Ana Alpizar. Cinematography was by Yuqian Zhang and Sound design was by Denis Colina.

 

“Norheimsund” screens again at these times:

Writer/Director Ana A.Alpizar. (Photo courtesy of Sundance Film Institute.)

Sundance at the Megaplex Theater in Park City at Redstone 3 on 1/27 at 1:50 p.m.; at the Holiday Village Cinema 3 on 1/30 at 9 a.m.; and at the Broadway Centre Cinemas 6 on 2/1 at 9 p.m