“I make films for myself, but I try to respect the audience at all times.”

So Yong Kim is a quiet person. The kind of filmmaker who’s too shy to speak up a panel discussing independent cinema and insists that she doesn’t sit through a screening of her own film – or at least sits somewhere near the door so she can run away without anyone noticing.

But the director, who lives with her husband – also a filmmaker – in the US, has been a Sundance regular ever since she started out with a video camera and no money in 2006. After returning to Utah this year with For Ellen, the tale of a washed-up rock musician Joby (Paul Dano) trying to connect with his daughter before he loses custody completely, So Yong Kim has come to Sundance London to share her low-key, moving drama.

Here’s what she had to say to us about funding, filming and Paul Dano’s secret dance moves.

Director: So Yong Kim
Cast: Paul Dano, Jon Heder, Shaylena Mandigo
Showtimes

A man and a young girl sit together at a table. He has long, straggly hair. She has a blue coat. They say nothing. Every now and then, he strokes his pathetic excuse for a beard. Then, she leans forward. "Why did you not come see me before?"

A quiet, moving film, For Ellen follows Joby's (Dano) attempt to connect with his daughter, Ellen (Mandigo), before he loses her completely. He's a washed-up rock musician. He hasn't visited home since she was born. He's about to sign divorce papers that will see his wife, Claire, take full custody of her. Ellen, meanwhile, is - well, what?

He knows absolutely nothing about her. He tries, awkwardly, to find out. She doesn't like ice cream. She doesn't like school. What does she like? Does she like him?