Celine Held

Celine Held is an American film director, writer, and actress. Her debut feature film Topside, co-directed with her partner Logan George, premiered at the 77th Venice International Film Festival. Her short film Caroline that she co-wrote, co-directed and starred in, was nominated for the Short Film Palme d'Or at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival. Her additional short film work has premiered at Sundance Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival and in the Narrative and Midnight competitions at South by Southwest. 
Held was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and is a dual US and UK citizen. Held met her partner Logan George at New York University, where she received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in drama.
=== Short Films ===
Held and George's first short film, Mouse, premiered at South by Southwest in 2017. Held was then named among the "25 New Faces of Independent Film" in Filmmaker Magazine's annual list with her partner Logan George in 2017. Held and George's second short film Babs was short-listed for the British Independent Film Awards in 2018. Their short film Lockdown premiered at Sundance Film Festival, and went on to play at Outfest and South by Southwest in 2019.
Held and George's short film Caroline was nominated for the Short Film Palme d'Or at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival, and screened at Telluride Film Festival and South by Southwest. Caroline went on to win awards at over 30 film festivals and was short-listed for the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film at the 91st Academy Awards. 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 77th Venice International Film Festival, the first American film in 13 years to premiere in the Critics' Week competitionTopside won the Mario Serandrei Award for Best Technical Achievement at Venice, and the jury award for Best Director at South by Southwest. Topside has been praised by critics, landing on The Hollywood Reporter's list of the 20 Best Films From the Toronto and Venice Festivals. Sheri Linden of The Hollywood Reporter said the film is "a striking debut, cinematic and affecting." Eric Kohn of Indiewire called the debut film "riveting," saying, "Logan George and Celine Held's debut is a taut mother-daughter survivor story with a breakthrough performance [at] its 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 multiple documentary shorts documenting homelessness, including 50 Moments, which premiered at South by Southwest as an art installation. Held worked with lead 6 year old actress Zhaila Farmer for a year before production. Held & George spent time in the tunnels underneath New York City in the years before production on Topside, and credit the inspiration for the film to Held's experiences working for Jumpstart Americorps, and to books The Mole People: Life in the Tunnels Beneath New York City by Jennifer Toth and The Tunnel: the Underground Homeless of New York City by Margaret Morton (photographer). 
Category:American film directors
Category:American writers
Category:American actresses