Experiencing Interruptions?

Leave Your Name

Brian Austin, a low budget filmmaker, listens to voicemails from friends and family while walking home from the subway. Only when matters are life and death does Brian understand the gravity of his apathy.

  • Brian Austin
    Director
    DOWNER
  • Brian Austin
    Writer
    DOWNER
  • Allen Chodakowski
    Director of Photography
    Hum, Dancer In Danger, DOWNER
  • Brian Austin
    Producer
    DOWNER
  • Sina Pars
    Producer
    Naysayer
  • Brian Austin
    Key Cast
    DOWNER
  • Project Type:
    Experimental, Short
  • Runtime:
    8 minutes 9 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    February 2, 2022
  • Production Budget:
    50 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Mini Digital Video
  • Aspect Ratio:
    4:3
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Flat Earth Film Festival
    Seyðisfjörður
    Iceland
    April 30, 2022
    Icelandic Premiere
    Official Selection
Director Biography - Brian Austin

Brian Austin is a writer, director, and actor based in Los Angeles. His work explores themes of friendship, loss, and isolation. His films have screened at Seattle True Independent Film Festival, Austin Micro Film Festival, and New Filmmakers New York.

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Director Statement

Leave Your Name is a short film about death and isolation in the digital age. After missing a phone call from my dying uncle, I realized how highly vulnerable leaving a voicemail can be. Leaving a voicemail is like speaking into the void, never knowing if your message will be heard or your call returned. The film features a series of actual voicemails I’ve received and ignored. And it takes place in my actual neighborhood in Los Angeles.

The camera presents the city in a raw tone that’s only familiar to the people who live and work here every day; this is a side of LA that is seldom reflected in cinema. The film is an unforgiving look at myself, the city, and even the people who called me.

I was inspired to make this film by the work of Chris Marker and Jarfar Panahi because they both borrow from the documentary tradition while making narrative films. Both filmmakers explore loss and isolation in their work, which are themes echoed in this film.