Written and Directed by Blaise Beyhan
Starring Levon Hawke, Paul Fitzgerald and Blaise Beyhan
Runtime 15 minutes 21 seconds
Premiered August 8, 2024 at HollyShorts Film Festival

by Liz Wiest

Blaise Beyhan was raised only watching films his cinephile stepfather deemed appropriate on their Alaskan commune. Though this had less to do with MPAA ratings and everything to do with pure cinematic value. “Quality films” he explained, “not junk food.”. His reverence for classic cinema directly resulted in Call Back- Beyhan’s first short to meet festival acclaim. Produced by Big Indie Pictures and starring Levon Hawke of Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman royalty, the short premiered at HollyShorts Film Festival on Thursday, August 8th to rave reception.

The film follows struggling nepo baby actor Danny Lewis, who is given the opportunity of a lifetime to take over the coveted lead part in a Marvel-esque franchise sequel Gargoyle 2 after the main actor’s “cancellation” for hitting a trans woman with his Tesla. At his callback, he has a strange encounter with a pesky method actor in a gargoyle costume who won’t leave him alone. What follows is a powerful Pinocchio and Jiminy Cricket-esque dialogue reflective of “every actor’s inner self-talk” that debates the nature of the film industry and forces Danny to confront his relationship to his own art and ethics.

During my interview with Beyhan about the project, the prolific director told MovieJawn that he aspires to utilize his art, and Call Back specifically, as a means of “sticking a knife into the capitalist machine”.

“I wanted to watch something that makes you have to go back and watch it again to see what you missed…art belongs to other people after you’ve created it. Though most of our value systems in society are made up. It’s our choice to decide whether we will lead with love or greed or something unsavory. The industry has been distorted by adding a quota to creativity. You devalue art when you add the word business to it. It’s the ultimate dysfunctional marriage.”

I found the short to be prolific, gorgeously shot, with a biting satirical lens capturing our reality at 110%. And others are agreeing in droves. Following the successful festival reception of Call Back, Beyhan aspires to complete a feature-length version of the same name and concept, and expand his partnership with Hawke into a number of other provocative and tonally similar projects.

HollyShorts film festival plays until August 18th, tickets are available here.