Holding Liat Premiers at Tribeca Film Festival in New York

Holding Liat (2025)

I was so thrilled to be involved in a project of such social magnitude during these times in the world. Directed by Brandon Kramer and produced by Lance Kramer and Darron Aronofksy, Holding Liat is a film about how Liat Benin Atzili was kindnapped on October 7th, and her Israeli-American family faced their own conflicting perspectives to fight for her release and the future of the places they call home.

When I went to Sundance Film Festival in 2024 I was blessed to meet the amazing Lance Kramer at a Shabbat dinner that was taking place during the festival in Park City, Utah. He told me that his cousin named Liat had been kidnapped by Hamas on October 7th, and he and his brother were making a documentary about her story. I was following so many of the hostages stories and I heard about her, and had great sympathy for her and husband’s situation and had wanted to help. So I told Lance to keep in touch and that I would help him in anyway that I could by promoting the film or raising money or whatever he needed me to do. When I got back to Baton Rouge, I put on my producer hat and started to think about who I knew that might be passionate about making sure that the story was told.

So we rallied together a group of people in Baton Rouge and had a fundraiser for the film. I met with the Jewish Film Festival artistic director and his wife, Ara and Julie Hoffman, and they were supportive along with my good friend, Michael Roth and Debra Sternberg. We decided we anted to champion what the film that Lance and his brother Brandon were making and we held a fundraiser to raise money for their efforts. The brother-duo are not new to filmmaking. When I went to watch their first successful film, The First Step, produced in 2021, a bi-partisan documentary about a criminal justice bill. I was super impressed with the film and the way it was shot. I loved the film and felt confident that they were going to make their next film about Liat in a respectful and beautiful way.

The Baton Rouge community rallied around this beautiful film concept and we were able to raise money for the film and help them progress in completion in order to submit to the festivals they were interested in getting the film into. They wound up premiering Holding Liat at the Berlin Film Festival and it won the Berlinale Documentary Film Award. The American premiere of the film will be in New York at the Tribeca film festival. Luckily Aaron and I have tickets to see the film the second week of June, and we look forward to meeting crew and celebrating the film together. To learn more about the upcoming screening, here the link for more: https://tribecafilm.com/films/holding-liat-2025

acting, acting book review, acting class, acting classes for teens, acting for business, acting for the camera, acting in louisiana, acting philosophy, acting students, Acting Techniques, art, audition taping, Baton Rouge arts, Baton Rouge productions, book review, christian, creating film, directing, Dogs, Female Director, Female Filmmaker, film, film acting, film acting for kids, film acting louisiana, filmmaking, films, historical drama, hogan productions, improv acting for kids, improv for kids, indie film, kids acting class, learn screenwriting, louisiana acting school, Louisisana Film Prize, love acting, Meisner technique, mental health, mental health awareness, plays baton rouge, producing, screenwriting baton rouge, screenwriting class, screenwriting louisiana, Stanford Meisner, suicide awareness, suicide prevention, teen acting, teen acting class, teen acting louisiana, theater, documentary filmJency HoganLove Acting movies baton rouge, mental health awareness, mm, mental illness prevention, female filmmaker, film making, film premiere in Hollywood, film acting louisiana, film baton rouge, film acting class, film, film writing, filmmaking, film acting for adults, film acting for teens, film acting classes, film acting, film acting near me, acting classes near me, acting classes, acting, acting workshops, acting classes Baton Rouge, acting training, acting coaching online, acting teacher, acting career, acting class, acting book, acting classwork, acting school, teen, teen acting classes, teen acting, teen acting class baton rouge, teen actor, teen acting class, teen film acting classes, acting for teens, acting for teens tv, acting class for teens, acting classes for teens, baton rouge teen acting class, learn acting for teens, acting baton rouge, acting classes louisiana, acting studio louisiana, acting beginnger, acting class louisiana, acting class BR, Baton Rouge downtown, Baton Rouge, baton rouge goes to hollywood, Baton Rouge events, baton rouge kids, baton rouge arts, baton rouge, Baton rouge, Baton Rouge arts, Baton Rouge theater, Baton Rouge events April, Baton Rouge louisiana, Baton Rouge writers, kids, kids summer, kids acting workshop, kids in the summer, kids acting, kids acting class, kids acting camp, kids camp, kids acting summer camp, kids summer camp, kids summer baton rouge, kids acting in baton rouge, summer kids, summer kids class, summertime kids, activities for kids summer, acting for kids, film acting for kids, acting class for kids, film acting for children, children film acting, child acting, child actor, film acting studio, film premiere, film industry, Feature films, feature film, FIlm producer, movie premiere, tribecca, tribeca, Tribeca film festival, tribeca film festival nyv, Tribeca Film Festival nyc, tribeca film festival New York, film festival, filmmaker, filmmaking louisiana, documentary, award winning film, oscar nominated film, berlin, Berlin film festival, Berlin film, holding liat, Berlinale documentary film award, american premiere, new york, new orleans, New Orleans film acting, acting camp, advanced acting classes, screenwriting, screen arts baton rouge, screen arts, screen, screenplays, screenwriting baton rouge, screenwriting class, lsu film, lsu film school, film school lsu, film school near me, love acting reviews, love acting actors showcase, love acting, love acting Baton Rouge, love acting book reviews, love acting br, love acting studio, love acting showcase, love acting louisiana, love acting baton rouge, Jency hogan