UofU scientist-turned-filmmaker explores decision-making in ‘Through Thin Ice’

PARK CITY, Utah —I first met Gabrielle Kardon at the Big Conversation about Science at the Sundance Film Festival. A professor of human genetics at the University of Utah, Kardon also holds the H.A. and Edna Benning Endowed Presidential Chair, a distinction awarded to top researchers. Now the director of the documentary “Through Thin Ice,” she never anticipated venturing into filmmaking—until an unexplained incident at the Great Salt Lake in early 2022 changed that.

What leads to rational vs. irrational decisions?

“As a scientist, my days are filled with carefully planned and analyzed experiments. However, one freezing night at the Great Salt Lake, a series of chance events quickly turned into a dire situation, and all my rational thinking was overturned,” said director Gabrielle Kardon. “This film arose out of a need to reflect on the events of that night. Teaming up with directing partner Arthur Veenema, we created a film that uses a combination of interviews, animation, and footage of the lake to explore how we make choices in desperate circumstances and the consequences of those choices.”

Learning how to make a documentary

Kardon has written about films for Science Magazine. In the fall of 2022, she attended the Sundance Institute’s Collab Introduction to Making Documentaries course, which she found particularly helpful. Her co-director, Arthur Veenema, grew up in Park City, was exposed to the Sundance Film Festival in high school, and studied film at the University of Utah. Both directors have a deep appreciation for the Great Salt Lake.

“Through Thin Ice”

Along the shores of the Great Salt Lake, a scientist’s twilight run is upended when her dog plunges through rare lake ice, catalyzing a desperate series of choices. After an improbable rescue, she questions whether she always makes rational decisions. Told from two perspectives, the film explores how people assess risks, make decisions, and the role of chance.

The short documentary interweaves animation with interviews and footage of the Great Salt Lake. It is available to watch online until Feb. 27 via the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival. Kardon, who recently returned from the festival in Missoula, Montana, said she was recognized at the airport and told, “I loved your film.”

In October 2024, “Through Thin Ice” won the Audience Award for Best U.S. Documentary at the San Francisco Short Film Festival. The film is also available online through the Slamdance Film Festival, which has moved to Los Angeles this year. It will screen before the feature documentary “Standout,” directed by Tanner Christensen and Ben Kjar, the first NCAA Division I All-American for Utah Central University, premiering Feb. 23. Slamdance films will be available online on the Slamdance Channel from Feb. 24 through March 7.