Official Trailer for Outstanding ‘Hold Your Fire’ NYC History Doc Film

Official Trailer for Outstanding ‘Hold Your Fire’ NYC History Doc Film

by Alex Billington
April 12, 2022
Source: YouTube

“That’s when things went haywire.” IFC Films has unveiled the trailer for a superb documentary film titled Hold Your Fire, from filmmaker Stefan Forbes. This premiered at last year’s Toronto Film Festival, and it also played at DOC NYC in the fall. The film tells the story of a hostage situation in Williamsburg, Brooklyn – a forgotten story from the 1970s that, at the time, was breaking news that changed America forever. When Shu’aib Raheem tried to steal guns for self-defense, it sparked the longest hostage siege in NYPD history. NYPD psychologist Harvey Schlossberg fought to reform police policy to save lives by using words, not guns. “Everything is resolvable by talking,” says Schlossberg, who recently passed away. The story raises questions — around Black self-defence, police tactics, and restorative justice — that strongly resonate today. I saw this at TIFF and it’s an outstanding film that not only takes us back in time, it offers incredible insight on history and America’s troubles with racism and policing. I highly recommend adding this one to your must see list.

Here’s the first official trailer (+ poster) for Stefan Forbes’ doc Hold Your Fire, direct from YouTube:

From TIFF: “In 1973, Shu’aib Raheem, age 23, led a group of four young Black Muslims trying to rob guns from a sporting goods store in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. They were seeking weapons to protect their families from threats of violence. “In retrospect, it was a fool’s idea,” says Raheem. The bungled robbery triggered a response of deadly force by police and the longest hostage siege in NYPD history. Since then, key facts of the story have been misunderstood even by people who were involved. Filmmaker Stefan Forbes works with a multicultural team (including Consulting Producer Sam Pollard) to reconstruct what took place through the Rashomon-like perspectives of the robbers, hostages, and police.” Hold Your Fire is directed by American writer / filmmaker Stefan Forbes, a cinematographer and also director of the doc films One More Dead Fish and Boogie Man: The Lee Atwater Story previously. This initially premiered at the 2021 Toronto Film Festival last fall. IFC will debut Hold Your Fire in select US theaters + on VOD starting May 20th, 2022.

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