Alex Holder
Alex Holder | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Occupation | Director |
| Years active | 2016–present |
| Known for | Documentaries |
| Notable work | Unprecedented |
| Website | ajhfilms |
Alex Holder is a British documentary filmmaker, founder and managing director of AJH Films.
Life and career
[edit]Before Unprecedented Holder describes himself as a previously “pretty unknown quantity”, but he was a producer on the 2016 Tribeca film Keep Quiet. It is a 2016 documentary about an anti-Semitic politician (Csanád Szegedi, a co-founder of the far-right Hungarian political party Jobbik) who finds out he’s Jewish.[1][2]
His works also include Bad Boy Chiller Crew, a 2021 series about Bad Boy Chiller Crew, an English bassline collective from Bradford.[3][1]
Unprecedented
[edit]Holder spent two years working on a documentary film about Donald Trump’s 2020 re-election campaign and the aftermath. The film premiered on July 10, 2022, on Discovery+. The three-part series features interviews with the former president; his children Ivanka, Eric, and Don Jr.; Jared Kushner and former Vice President Mike Pence; as well as footage shot at the Capitol on January 6.[1] The filmmakers have stated that the delay of the film's release was not intentional, but due to the needs of production.[4] According to Holder, the Trump’s didn’t have editorial control over the documentary.[3]
Holder was subpoenaed by the Jan 6 Committee to hand over raw footage he possessed from filming Unprecedented,[5] in the final months of 2020 and early 2021.[6] The Jan 6 Committee were specifically interested in "raw footage taken on 6th January 2021; raw footage of interviews with President Donald J. Trump, Donald J. Trump, Jr., Ivanka Trump, Eric Trump, Jared Kushner; and Vice President Mike Pence; raw footage pertaining to discussions of election fraud or election integrity surrounding the November 2020 presidential election".[7] Holder captured Ivanka Trump on camera, contradicting herself (and thus lying to documentary cameras or a Senate committee under oath). In December 2020, days after Attorney General William P. Barr's announcement, Ivanka publicly supported Donald Trump's fight to overturn the election results. In her testimony, however, she agreed with Barr's claim that the election was legitimate.[8]
Holder captured a moment when Mike Pence read an email confirming that his letter rejecting Nancy Pelosi's attempt to invoke the 25th Amendment had been sent. While the documentary suggested Pence was reacting to a House resolution urging him to remove Trump, his spokesman disputed this characterization, clarifying that Pence was merely acknowledging his own letter.[9]
Holder testified in a closed-door deposition before the Committee on 23 June 2022.[10]
Holder has been accused of being a British or US spy and got a security detail,[11] appeared on CNN and MSNBC.[3][1] He has been ordered to give evidence to an investigation in Georgia, too, which is looking at whether Trump pressured state officials to influence the 2020 election in the state.[11]
Some of "the most intriguing material associated with Unprecedented" didn’t make it into the film, however it was included in the January 6 committee's request for footage.[12]
Ongoing projects
[edit]His next documentary is on the Israeli–Palestinian conflict.[13] Among those who will take part in the film are Noam Chomsky, Nickolay Mladenov, and Tony Blair.[2]
Filmography
[edit]| Year | Film | Type | Credits | Runtime |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | The Man with 1000 Kids[14] | Documentary, 3 episodes | Executive producer | 3 x 45 mins |
| 2022 | Unprecedented | Documentary, 3 episodes | Director | 2 hours 28 minutes |
| 2021 | Bad Boy Chiller Crew | Documentary, 6 episodes | Executive producer | 6 x 45 minutes |
| 2016 | Keep Quiet | Documentary | Producer | 1 hour 30 minutes |
Awards
[edit]| Year | Award | Film | Status | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Cinema for Peace Awards | Keep Quiet | Winner | Most Valuable Documentary of the Year |
| 2017 | Copenhagen International Documentary Film Festival | Keep Quiet | Nominee | ACT Award |
| 2016 | Tribeca Film Festival | Keep Quiet | Nominee | Best Documentary Feature |
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d Kilkenny, Katie. "A Succession-Type Vibe: Alex Holder Reveals Details About His Trump Doc After Testifying Before Jan. 6 Committee". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 20 July 2022.
- ^ a b "AJH Films". AJH Films.
- ^ a b c Schwarz, D. Hunter (July 6, 2022). "Who is Alex Holder, the Jan. 6 documentary filmmaker behind 'Unprecedented'?". Deseret News. Retrieved July 8, 2022.
- ^ "'There Was No Way to Have a Rational Conversation With Him' Filmmaker Alex Holder on his interviews with Trump after January 6". Intelligencer. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
- ^ "Unseen Trump tapes subpoenaed by House panel investigating Jan. 6". Politico. Retrieved 2022-07-01.
- ^ "CBS News obtains images from documentary film footage given to Jan. 6 panel". www.cbsnews.com. Retrieved 2022-07-01.
- ^ Klein, Charlotte (2022-06-23). "Potentially Explosive Documentary Of Trumps May Take Center Stage at Upcoming Jan. 6 Hearings". Vanity Fair. Retrieved 2022-07-01.
- ^ Maggie Haberman (2022-06-21). "Ivanka Trump expressed a different view on the election to a filmmaker". The New York Times. Retrieved 2025-03-03.
- ^ Jeremy Herb, Zachary Cohen and Ryan Nobles (2022-06-23). "New documentary footage reveals Pence reacting on the night House pushed for him to invoke 25th Amendment". CNN. Retrieved 2025-03-03.
- ^ Haberman, Maggie (2022-06-23). "Documentary Filmmaker Emerges as Potentially Key Jan. 6 Witness". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-07-01.
- ^ a b "Jan 6 hearings: Trump film-maker now has 'two armed guards'". BBC. Retrieved 20 July 2022.
- ^ "A new Trump doc was subpoenaed by Jan. 6 committee. It's not as revelatory as it sounds". Los Angeles Times.
- ^ Schwarz, D. Hunter (July 6, 2022). "Who is Alex Holder, the Jan. 6 documentary filmmaker behind 'Unprecedented'?". Deseret News. Retrieved July 8, 2022.
- ^ Goldbart, Max (2023-05-09). "'Fertility Fraudster': Netflix Greenlights Series On Man Accused Of Fathering More Than 500 Children". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 2025-04-10.
Further reading
[edit]- Cortellessa, Eric (July 7, 2022). "How a First-Time Director Scored Unequaled Access to Trump". Time. Retrieved July 8, 2022.
- Hart, Benjamin (June 29, 2022). "Filmmaker Alex Holder Says Trump Was 'Utterly Irrational' After January 6". Intelligencer. Retrieved July 8, 2022.
- Kilkenny, Katie (June 28, 2022). "A ''Succession'-Type Vibe': Alex Holder Reveals Details About His Trump Doc After Testifying Before Jan. 6 Committee". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved July 8, 2022.
External links
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