WAZABI FILMS
 
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HOLD FAST
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Completed - ENGLISH - Family, Drama - 97 minutes

Log Line

Two teenage boys run away from family tragedy and an unhappy home, determined to survive on their own in the Newfoundland wilderness.

Previous markets

  • Berlin EFM 2013 (Premiere)
Full history

Year of production : 2012

Director(s) : Justin SIMMS
Writer(s) : Rosemary HOUSE
Cast : Aiden FLYNN, Avery ASH, Douglas SULLIVAN, Molly PARKER

Producer(s) : Rosemary HOUSE

Synopsis

When 14 year-old Michael's parents are killed in a car accident, he and his little brother are split up and Michael is sent to live with relatives in a city far removed from his beloved fishing village. In addition to the harbour pursuits that formed the backbone of his daily life, Michael also leaves his adored grandfather – his last connection to the life that went before.
Michael makes an effort to adjust to the city in spite of Uncle Ted, who has rejected the out-ports in favour of a rigidly material urban life. He buries his insecurities by running his home like an army barracks. Michael forms an uneasy friendship with his cousin, the bookish Curtis and meets the sweetly effervescent Brenda, his first love.
But Michael, hot tempered and righteous, is taunted for his accent and his country ways. When he goes ballistic and knocks a kid out cold he and his uncle have a terrible fight and Michael decides to run away. He plans to survive alone in the Newfoundland wilderness, thereby proving his independence. But Curtis, also longing for freedom, begs to join him on the lam.
They hitchhike their way across the island, ‘borrowing’ a car at Gander airport to take them deep inside a deserted national park. Michael has become obsessed by a quest to find a secret place that his father loved. As the two boys head into the winter woods on foot, their journey proves more dangerous than either could have imagined.
Hold Fast is adapted from the classic coming-of-age novel by Kevin Major. This seminal Newfoundland novel was instantly hailed as "a landmark in Canadian writing for young people; a stunningly perceptive novel”. Michael has been compared to both Holden Caulfield and Huck Finn. The book won the Governor General’s Award and is one of the most accomplished and popular young people’s novels in the country, second only to Anne of Green Gables. The film will appeal to the same general audiences that loved Stand By Me but its target market is boys from 8 to 14.

Production

Country(ies) : CANADA


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