Celine Held is an American and British film director, writer, and actress. Her debut feature film '' Topside'', co-directed with her partner

Logan George Logan George is an American film director, writer, and editor. George works exclusively with his partner, Celine Held, as a co-writer and co-director. His debut feature film '' Topside'' premiered at the 77th Venice International Film Festival ...

, premiered at the

77th Venice International Film Festival The 77th annual Venice International Film Festival was held from 2 to 12 September 2020, albeit in a "more restrained format" due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Australian actress Cate Blanchett was appointed as the President of the Jury. '' The Ties ...

. Her short film ''Caroline'' that she co-wrote, co-directed and starred in, was nominated for the

Short Film Palme d'Or The Short Film Palme d'Or (french: Palme d'Or du court métrage) is the highest prize given to a short film at the Cannes Film Festival. Since the creation of the Cinéfondation section in 1998, a common Official Jury awards the Short Film Pal ...

at the

2018 Cannes Film Festival The 71st annual Cannes Film Festival was held from 8 to 19 May 2018. Australian actress Cate Blanchett acted as President of the Jury. The Japanese film '' Shoplifters'', directed by Hirokazu Kore-eda, won the Palme d'Or. Asghar Farhadi's psyc ...

. Her additional short film work has premiered at

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,6 ...

and at

South by Southwest South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, ...

Early life and education

Held was born in

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsyl ...

, and is a US and UK citizen.

Career

Short films

Held and George's first short film, ''Mouse'', premiered at

in 2017. Held was then named among the "25 New Faces of Independent Film" in

Filmmaker Magazine ''Filmmaker'' is a quarterly publication magazine covering issues relating to independent film. The magazine was founded in 1992 by Karol Martesko-Fenster, Scott Macaulay and Holly Willis. The magazine is now published by the IFP (Independent Fi ...

's annual list with her partner Logan George in 2017. Their second short film ''Lockdown'' premiered at

. Held and George's short film ''Caroline'' was nominated for the

at the

and

. ''Caroline'' was also short-listed for the

Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film The Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film is an award presented at the annual Academy Awards ceremony. The award has existed, under various names, since 1957. From 1936 until 1956 there were two separate awards, "Best Short Subject, One- ...

at the

91st Academy Awards The 91st Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best films of 2018 and took place on February 24, 2019, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles. During the ceremony, AM ...

. Held also played the mother of the titular character in ''Caroline'', a role that she reprised for Held and George's feature film debut ''Topside''.

''Topside''

Held and George's first feature film ''Topside'' premiered at

. ''Topside'' won the Mario Serandrei Award for Best Technical Achievement at Venice, and the jury award for Best Director at

. ''Topside'' has been praised by critics, landing on

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Hollywood film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade paper, and in 2010 switched to a weekly large ...

's list of the ''20 Best Films From the Toronto and Venice Festivals''. Sheri Linden of

said the film is "a striking debut, cinematic and affecting." Eric Kohn of

Indiewire IndieWire (sometimes stylized as indieWIRE or Indiewire) is a film industry and review website that was established in 1996. The site's focus was predominantly independent film, although its coverage has grown to "to include all aspects of Holl ...

called the debut film "riveting," saying, "Logan George and Celine Held's debut is a taut mother-daughter survivor story with a breakthrough performance tits center." Held has also been praised for her pivotal role in ''Topside'', with critics calling her performance "harrowing," "unnerving," and "gutwrenching." Held & George's research for their feature film debut ''Topside'' has been extensive. The pair created a documentary on homelessness ''50 Moments'', which premiered at

. Held & George spent time in the tunnels before filming on ''Topside'', and credit the inspiration for the film to books ''The Mole People: Life in the Tunnels Beneath New York City'' by

Jennifer Toth Jennifer Ninel Toth (born ) is an English-born journalist and writer. Early life and education Toth was born in London to John and Paula Toth. Her father was a national security correspondent for the ''Los Angeles Times'' and later a senior as ...

and ''The Tunnel: the Underground Homeless of New York City'' by Margaret Morton.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Held, Celine 1990 births Living people Actresses from Pittsburgh Film directors from Pennsylvania 21st-century British actresses New York University alumni American women film directors British women film directors 21st-century American women