Experiencing Interruptions?

Swans

A series of elegies about artists whose death's have shaped my ideas of legacy, specifically an artist's legacy. I was searching for answers to the question "How do we create in the face of death?"

  • Leo Deer
    Director
  • Project Type:
    Documentary, Experimental, Feature
  • Runtime:
    1 hour 40 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    March 4, 2024
  • Production Budget:
    250 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    4:3
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Leo Deer

I was born in Dayton, OH, in 1999. During my upbringing, my parents exposed me to seminal films from around the world, coinciding with the emergence of internet filmmaking. Both disciplines have left their imprints on my work. 
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During the pandemic, I started working on found footage film projects. My first significant work, Life On A Boat (completed in 2021), served as a found footage visual album for The Avalanches' Since I Left You. In 2022, I spent several months traveling across the United States, sleeping in the back of my car, and collecting diaristic film material along the way. This footage eventually evolved into Camino.​ 

While traveling and inspired by the city's legacy of experimental and avant-garde filmmaking, I decided to move to New York City in 2023. Recently, I have explored experimental documentary and essay filmmaking methods, culminating in my newest film, Swans – a study of artists whose deaths profoundly influence the way I think about legacy.

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Director Statement

Last year was marked by a death. With that death came procrastination, and with that procrastination came a fear of death, with that more procrastination.

I was obsessed with legacy. I tried to make things around it but realized the only cure was to talk about it. I made this, a series of elegies about artists that have influenced me, specifically how I think about legacy.