Experiencing Interruptions?

IF YOU STAY

The film follows Claire, a 19 year old woman who has made the brave decision to leave her violent partner, Sam. It shows the importance of the effects Domestic Violence can have on ones mental health so we see Claire struggle to come to terms with the incident and see her start to experience the beginning stages of ptsd that still affect her one year later all whist she tries to believe herself. During the beginning of the film, Claire tries to seek comfort from someone who she considers to be a good friend, Nick, but what she doesn’t know is that Nick and Sam are good friends as well which means that Sam has already given his version of events to Nick leaving Claire Isolated. At the end of the film we finally see that Claire believes herself, has the courage to speak up and knows her worth. She ends up walking past Sam, with a new young victim, the day after her police case against him gets dropped which starts the struggle inside Claire again.

  • Ashleigh La Cava
    Director
  • Ashleigh La Cava
    Writer
  • Ashleigh La Cava
    Key Cast
    "Claire"
  • Ryan Docking
    Key Cast
    "Sam"
  • Huseyin Ulger
    Key Cast
    "Nick"
  • Ruby Busuttil
    Key Cast
    "Young Girl "
  • Jo Cremona
    Videographer
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Runtime:
    8 minutes 24 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    May 2, 2023
  • Production Budget:
    2,000 AUD
  • Country of Origin:
    Australia
  • Country of Filming:
    Australia
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Black & White and Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Ashleigh La Cava

Ashleigh La Cava is an Australian Born Actor, Director and Screenwriter. She knew she wanted to be involved in the arts since she was young. At the age of 12, she began taking local theatre and screen acting classes and knew this was where she belonged. Studying at multiple acting schools around Sydney and upon graduating from TAFTA in 2022, she had found a new love for working behind the lens as a Director, Screenwriter and Cinematographer and loves being able to take full creative control onto her projects. "IF YOU STAY" is her directing and writing debut.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

"I wanted to be able to share a story that was deeply personal to me. A couple years ago I experienced an incident of Domestic Violence and it took up a big part of my life. I decided to turn it into a film as It was so important to me to speak up and share my story to get the message across of the aftermath and the effects of PTSD"