HOLDEN ON
Narrative Feature (Georgia)
A small town football player fights to keep his mental illness a secret at all costs.
Based on a true story about dual diagnosis
AWARDS
State of Georgia General Assembly Honoree
Georgia Film Critics Association Oglethorpe Award Nominee for Excellence in Georgia Cinema
WINNER - Best Director - Breckenridge Film Festival
WINNER - Best Director - Orlando Film Festival
WINNER - Best Feature Audience Award - Atlanta Film Festival (Atlanta Journal-Constitution Critics’ Pick)
WINNER - Best Feature Audience Award - Dances With Films
WINNER - Best Feature Audience Award - Macon Film Festival
WINNER - Best Actor - Breckenridge Film Festival
WINNER - Jury Prize Outstanding Social Impact Filmmaking - South Bay Film & Music Festival
NOMINATED - Ultra Indie Award - Woodstock Film Festival
PURCHASE HOLDEN ON
Unlike a home video, which cannot legally be shown in a classroom, community setting, or place of business, a HOLDEN ON educational DVD allows universities, churches, high schools, nonprofit organizations, libraries, and other institutions to show the film as many times as they like to their constituents.
In-perpuity license for University/Libraries/Nonprofit/Business/Government
US shipping additional $10. CANADA OR INT’L PLEASE CONTACT US FOR SHIPPING RATES.
In-perpuity license for University/Libraries/Nonprofit/Business/Government
DVD license plus a 60 Minute Zoom Session after the screening with Writer/Director, Tamlin Hall.
PAST SCREENINGS
2020 NAMI National Convention (coming July 16, 2020 Tickets Click Here)
Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders, Atlanta, GA (2x)
Independent Film Society of Colorado, Colorado Springs, CO
National Association of Drug Court Professionals, Houston, TX
San Francisco Independent Film Festival, San Francisco, CA
Georgia State Capitol, Atlanta, GA
H.E.A.R. Film Series, Cine Athens, Athens GA
Shadows Of The Mind Film Festival, Sault Sainte Marie, Ontario, Canada
Suffolk County Family Courts, Long Island, NY
Kennesaw State University, Kennesaw, GA
University of Louisville, Louisville, KY
Cass County Michigan Family Courts, Cassopolis, MI
Mental Health America, Charlotte, NC
University of Delaware, Newark, DE
LaGrange College, LaGrange, GA
University of Georgia, Athens, GA
Auburn University, Auburn, AL
Julien Dubuque International Film Festival, Julien Dubuque, IO
Prince of Peace Lutheran Church, Gaithersburg, MD
The Summit: Georgia’s Child Welfare Conference, Atlanta, GA
Georgia DFCS Leadership Conference, Macon, GA
Licensed Professional Counselors Association, Atlanta, GA
Louisiana Girls Leadership Academy, Thibodeaux, LA
Georgia Judges Conference, Pine Mountain, GA
University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
Texas A&M, College Station, TX
Millersville University, Lancaster, PA
York College of Pennsylvania, York, PA
Metropolitan United School District, Indianapolis, IN
Colorado Mountain College, Breckenridge, CO
The Tamarack, Beckley, WV
The Science Center, Louisville, KY
Labeled Film Festival, Salt Lake City UT
Beverly Hills High School, Beverly Hills, CA
Forsyth County Georgia Family & Drug Courts, Johns Creek, GA
Green Mountain Film Festival, Montpelier, VT
Twin Cedars Youth Home, Columbus, GA
LaGrange College, LaGrange, GA
Atlas Performing Arts Center, Washington, DC
Appell Center for the Performing Arts, York, PA
BlackRock Center for the Arts, Germantown, MD
Montgomery County Community College, Blue Bell, PA
The Queen Theater, Wilmington, DE
Reading Area Community College, Reading, PA
The Ware Center at Millersville University, Lancaster, PA
University of Pittsburgh at Bradford, Bradford, PA
Wayne Theatre Alliance, Waynesboro, VA
Woodstock Film Festival, Woodstock, NY
Woodstock Film Festival, Saugerties, NY
Atlanta Film Festival, Atlanta, GA
Rendezvous With Madness (closing night film), Workman Arts Center, Toronto, Canada
Dances With Films, Los Angeles, CA
Onteora High School, Woodstock, NY
Breckenridge Film Festival, Breckenridge, CO
Orlando Film Festival, Orlando, FL
Sweetland Amphitheatre, LaGrange, GA
Troup County Drug Courts, LaGrange, GA
AMC Theatre, LaGrange, GA
South Bay Film & Music Festival, Hermosa Beach, CA
Macon Film Festival, Macon, GA
University of Georgia, Athens, GA
Rome International Film Festival, Rome, GA
Cabarrus County and Healthy Cabarrus, Concord, NC
DIRECTOR STATEMENT:
Holden Layfield and I grew up in the same small town. Even though he was a few years older, I still considered him a friend. I wasn’t that special, though, because everyone considered Holden a friend. He was just that kind of guy. He treated everyone with respect and accepted everyone for who they were. For me, I was bullied incessantly for being “fat” and overweight. Holden was one of the only kids in my school who treated me like a human being instead of a punching bag. Holden’s humanity shined until the day he took his life. It was Holden’s humanity that gave me purpose to tell Holden’s story. As a filmmaker, if I could show the person behind the illness, then perhaps we could begin to understand one’s puzzle that often seems so puzzling. I wanted to honor Holden’s legacy by telling the truth. I felt it was imperative to incite discussion and dialogue without blame or propaganda. Our only motive: humanity. Holden would’ve wanted it that way. He also would want his story to honor all those individuals who feel alone in this world. That’s why we titled the film HOLDEN ON.
This film is dedicated to you, to me, and all of us who often feel like we’re on the outside looking in… just holden on.
Tamlin Hall
Writer-Director
Writer/Director and HOPE GIVERS Founder, Tamlin Hall, is honored at the 2018 Georgia General Assembly.
Writer/Director and HOPE GIVERS Founder, Tamlin Hall, accepts the Best Feature Audience Award for “Holden On” at the 42nd annual Atlanta Film Festival.
SYNOPSIS:
Holden Layfield helps audiences through his harrowing tale in this film set in the early 1990s. After succumbing to a secret battle with mental illness, 17-year old Holden devolves from a gregarious, small-town Georgian football player to a lost, self-medicating prophet. This important film portrays the complexity of mental illness and suicide in teens, offers insight to prevention, and opens the door to conversation about this difficult but critical community concern.
*According to McLean Hospital, a Harvard Medical School affiliate, up to 75 percent of youth with substance abuse problems also struggle with psychiatric illness. (http://www.mcleanhospital.org/programs/landing-mclean-hospital)
“We are a visual world. When we see someone with a broken arm, we do not ask them to fix it; yet we ask that of every individual with a mental disorder.
”
MHA of Central Carolinas staff member: One of the parents handed me this card at the Holden On screening… “I think this is a movie that everyone in the world should see. It reflected on everything from God to reality of mental illness. Thanks. Really hit home!!”