Hold Me Down is a 2017 Swedish-American drama short film written and directed by Niclas Gillis. The story is based on true events and features a cast of non-actors from the Bronx, New York; among them Tianna Allen, Tanisha Lambright, Cheryl Juniaus, and Prince Combs. The title is American slang, meaning "be there for me". The film depicts a day in the life of a 19-year-old single mother who works as a stripper at an illegal nightclub to support her child. It is filmed on location in the South Bronx: in the Mott Haven public housing, the New York City Subway, a local Chinese take-out, and an active brothel. With a running time of 28 minutes, it sets out to explore the cyclical nature of American poverty and the conditions that push many girls and young women into prostitution. Following its world premiere at the Gothenburg International Film Festival, Hold Me Down has been lauded by critics for its authoritative realism and the outstanding performances of the cast, called "a powerful, powerful drama" by CNN. Due to the complex nature of the production, Hold Me Down would take nearly three years to complete. Produced by The Collectif and More Media with support from IFP, the film was retroactively funded by The Swedish Film Institute and Sveriges Television (the national Swedish broadcaster) which included the film in its program "Moving Sweden". In order for the film to qualify for Swedish funding, post production was done in Stockholm with the participation of Swedish production company Bob Film Sweden, which assumed European rights to the film. Cast Tianna Allen as Chastity Syrah and Serenity Harris as Fayth Tanisha Lambright as Nisha Anaya Ba as Nana Prince Combs as Prince Cheryl Juniaus as Chastity's mother Alexis Williams as Lilly Barbara Moore as Miss Ida Nicole Cochran Adams as Nik Miranda Collier as Silence Shavon Thomas as Cakes Mike Strickland as the MC Ralph Carter as the bouncer Production Development Niclas Gillis first became aware of the issues that the film addresses when he moved to New York from his native Sweden in 2009, then 19 years of age. As one of the only white male students living on campus at the college he attended, he was invited by fellow residents to what he thought would be a regular house party in Harlem but that proved to be an illicit event similar to the one