Rachael Abigail Holder is an American filmmaker. Her debut film Love Brooklyn (2025) won the Favorite Feature Narrative Audience Award at BlackStar Film Festival.
Rachael Abigail Holder | |
|---|---|
| Born | Long Island, New York, U.S. |
| Alma mater | Fordham University (BA) Tisch School of the Arts (MFA) |
| Occupations |
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Early life and education
editHolder was born and raised on Long Island to Guyanese immigrants, attending Waldorf School in Garden City as one of few Black students in a predominately white neighborhood.[1][2] She and her family went to Brooklyn every Sunday to attend church with other West Indian families.[1]
She received her bachelor's degree in English at Fordham University.[2] She moved to Brooklyn while studying to receive her MFA in dramatic writing at Tisch School of the Arts.[1]
Career
editWhen Holder was 27 she moved to Los Angeles to pursue a filmmaking career.[2] She released the breakout hit web series I Love Bekka & Lucy (2017), a semi-autobiographical comedy about her relationship with her best friend, as creator, writer, and director.[2] Holder went on to direct television.[2] Her credits includes Dickinson, Amber Brown, Run the World, Everything’s Gonna Be Okay, Love Is, and Florida Girls.[2]
In 2025 Holder released her directorial debut film Love, Brooklyn. [1] The romantic drama about a group of Black friends living in various areas of Brooklyn is based on a debut screenplay by Paul Zimmerman.[2] Aaron Brokenbough Jr. wrote in a positive review for Brooklyn Magazine, "Love, Brooklyn is a work that refuses to be contained, spilling past the edges of the screen with a pulse that feels both intimate and expansive."[3] It received the Favorite Feature Narrative Audience Award at BlackStar Film Festival.[3]
Personal life
editHolder has lived in Jersey City since 2015.[2]
References
edit- 1 2 3 4 Minow, Nell. "My Window into Culture: Rachael Abigail Holder on "Love, Brooklyn"". Rogerebert.com. Retrieved 8 February 2026.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Kuperinsky, Amy. "N.J. director Rachael Abigail Holder talks 'Love, Brooklyn,' her Sundance movie debut". NJ.com. Retrieved 8 February 2026.
- 1 2 Jr, Aaron Brokenbough (2025-08-15). "'Love, Brooklyn' is a Romance for a Borough in Flux". BKMAG. Retrieved 2026-02-08.