Half Nelson (film)

Half Nelson
A man standing in front of a blackboard, the words "half nelson" written prominently in white chalk.
Theatrical release poster by Tze Chun
Directed byRyan Fleck
Written by
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyAndrij Parekh
Edited byAnna Boden
Music byBroken Social Scene
Distributed byTHINKFilm
Release dates
  • January 23, 2006 (2006-01-23) (Sundance)
  • September 22, 2006 (2006-09-22) (United States)
Running time
102 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$700,000
Box office$4.9 million

Half Nelson is a 2006 American drama film directed by Ryan Fleck and written by Fleck and Anna Boden. The film stars Ryan Gosling, Shareeka Epps and Anthony Mackie. It was scored by Canadian band Broken Social Scene. 26-year-old Gosling was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance, becoming the seventh-youngest nominee in the category at the time.

The story concerns an inner city middle-school teacher who forms a friendship with a student, after she discovers that he has a drug habit. The film is based on a 19-minute film made by Boden and Fleck in 2004, titled Gowanus, Brooklyn.[1] It premiered in competition at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival. It was released theatrically on August 11, 2006.

  1. ^ "Gowanus, Brooklyn (2004)" Archived 2021-09-04 at the Wayback Machine. IMDb. Amazon.com. Retrieved March 5, 2012.