Hand Held is a documentary

Documentary film

Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...

 feature film

Feature film

In the film industry, a feature film is a film production made for initial distribution in theaters and being the main attraction of the screening, rather than a short film screened before it; a full length movie...

 about photojournalist Mike Carroll (Boston Globe, People

People (magazine)

In 1998, the magazine introduced a version targeted at teens called Teen People. However, on July 27, 2006, the company announced it would shut down publication of Teen People immediately. The last issue to be released was scheduled for September 2006. Subscribers to this magazine received...

, Rolling Stone

Rolling Stone

Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...

), one of the first photographers to travel to Romania

Romania

Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...

 after the fall of the communist regime of Nicolae Ceausescu

Nicolae Ceausescu

Nicolae Ceaușescu was a Romanian Communist politician. He was General Secretary of the Romanian Communist Party from 1965 to 1989, and as such was the country's second and last Communist leader...

 in 1989. When he arrived, he walked into one of the most horrific scenes of the 20th century. His photographs and heart wrenching stories of the pediatric AIDS

AIDS

Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...

 epidemic in Romania ran in the Boston Globe and New York Times and opened the eyes of the western world to the plight of Romanian children. The film chronicles Carroll's twenty-year journey to bring aid to children in a country he hardly knew, through the organization he founded, Romanian Children's Relief (RCR).

The film is directed by Academy Award nominee Don Hahn

Don Hahn

Don Hahn is an American film producer who has produced some of the most successful Walt Disney animated films of the past 20 years. He currently owns his own film production company called Stone Circle Pictures.-Early life:...

, the man famous for producing Beauty and the Beast

Beauty and the Beast (1991 film)

Beauty and the Beast is a 1991 American animated fantasy film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Pictures. The thirtieth film in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series and the third film of the Disney Renaissance period...

 and The Lion King

The Lion King

The Lion King is a 1994 American animated film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. It is the 32nd feature in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series...

 for the Walt Disney Animation Studios. After a charity premiere at WGBH in Boston

Boston

Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...

, the film was selected for participation in the Heartland Film Festival

Heartland Film Festival

The Heartland Film Festival is a film festival held each October in Indianapolis, Indiana. First held in 1992, its goal is to "recognize and honor filmmakers whose work explores the human journey by artistically expressing hope and respect for the positive values of life."In May 2007, Heartland...

, and has been the official selection of the Boulder International Film Festival

Boulder International Film Festival

Boulder International Film Festival sponsored by the Colorado Film Society, is held annually on Presidents Day Weekend in Boulder, Colorado USA, and has developed a reputation as one of the most influential young film festivals in the U.S., with an extraordinary number of new-but-unknown feature...

, Newport Beach Film Festival

Newport Beach Film Festival

The Newport Beach Film Festival is a film festival in the United States held in Newport Beach, California, that showcases more than 350 films to more than 30,000 attendees annually....

, and the Rhode Island International Film Festival

Rhode Island International Film Festival

Flickers' Rhode Island International Film Festival takes place every year in Providence and Newport, Rhode Island as well as satellite locations throughout the state. Started in 1997, the Festival is produced by Flickers, the Newport Film/Video Society & Arts Collaborative, a 501 non-profit...

. Hand Held's European premiere was in Bucharest

Bucharest

Bucharest is the capital municipality, cultural, industrial, and financial centre of Romania. It is the largest city in Romania, located in the southeast of the country, at , and lies on the banks of the Dâmbovița River....

 in late 2010. The director Don Hahn and subject Mike Carroll were introduced by United States Ambassador Mark Gitenstein

Mark Gitenstein

Mark Henry Gitenstein is the United States Ambassador to Romania. He was nominated by President Barack Obama on June 11, 2009 and confirmed by the United States Senate on July 8, 2009....

who was in attendance at the premiere.

External links

• U.S. Embassy film premiere story