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Directed by David Holbrooke, HARD AS NAILS captures the dynamic 29-year-old unordained Catholic minister Justin Fatica
as he preaches to a wide variety of young adults. Drawn by Fatica's magnetic aura, his
teenage listeners pour their hearts out to him, offering their brutally honest accounts of
drug addiction, sexual abuse, self-mutilation and suicidal thoughts, as well as confessing
to more common teen insecurities, such as not fitting in.
Fatica and his ministry travel widely, training willing teenagers to start Hard as
Nails chapters in their hometowns. Part of the training includes reenacting Christ's
crucifixion and staging dramatic skits that address modern-day issues. The reenactments
led by Fatica and other young adults include the simulated nailing and blindfolding of
participants, who carry large wooden crosses as others berate them, much like the
Romans did with Christ. Some view it as too intense, as the emotional experience often
leaves these teens in tears, but the experience also helps ignite the passion they feel for
God. Explains one passionate young adult leader, who hurt his shoulder while
participating in a Hard as Nails skit, "I've never broken anything in my entire life, and now
that I've met Christ, I've separated my shoulder. I also got hit in the face by a beam. So
it's all about just praising Jesus, you know, and if I have to get hurt to praise Jesus, then
that's just what I'm going to have to do."
HARD AS NAILS also reveals intimate moments with Fatica's family. Born and
raised in Erie, Pa., and currently married and residing in Syracuse, NY, Fatica was a self-
described poor student who was kicked out of school twice. After Fatica feared he had
gotten a girl pregnant, a priest invited him on a retreat, where he had a major conversion
and "surrendered it all to God," shouting, "I'm gonna start caring!"
When Fatica visits his family in Erie, it is evident they don't always share his
passion. His mother Kathleen notes, "What he's doing is wonderful and positive, but a lot
of people look at him as very different and very strange."
Fatica's wife Mary recalls how they met in college, saying he tried to "evangelize
me." Mary, who also preaches, gives birth to their first son, Joseph, in the film. With
camera in hand, Fatica interviews his wife and parents in the delivery room, espousing
his love for the women in his life (his wife and mother) while they jokingly ask him to stop
filming.
Though the ministry is expanding - Hard as Nails is invited to start a chapter on
the island of Barbados - Fatica's intense style gets him into trouble at home. At one
Vermont Catholic high school, administrators confront him with concerns from guidance
counselors about students' intense reactions to a Hard as Nails event. A week later, the
Burlington diocese bans the ministry from preaching at any Catholic church in Vermont.
Answering critics, Fatica says, "The Church as an institution...isn't my model.
Jesus is my model, my example." He has since returned to Vermont, but has preached
only in Protestant churches and public schools. Despite the controversy, Fatica feels
there are too many troubled teens for him to stop his mission. On his front lawn with his
toddler son, Fatica remarks, "If you're gonna complain about how I'm doing it, you do it. I
don't have the best ways to do it, I know that. But I'm doing everything I can to try.
That's the truth."
ABOUT THE FILMMAKER: David Holbrooke worked for nearly five years as a
producer at The Today Show. After producing and directing the PBS special The
Soul of Healing with Deepak Chopra, Holbrooke completed several short films,
including A Redwood Grows in Brooklyn, Freaks Like Me and Time For a New
God, which examines religion and spirituality in the wake of September 11.
Hard as Nails marks Holbrooke's feature-length documentary directorial debut.
Hard as Nails has screened at the 2007 Tribeca Film Festival, the Silverdocs Film
Festival and the Telluride Mountain Film Festival.
CREDITS: Directed by David Holbrooke; Produced by Sarah Klein; Edited by David Klagsbrun;
Director of Photography: Etienne Sauret; Co-Producer: Sarah Holbrooke; Associate
Producer: Tom Mason; Composer: Milton. For HBO: Senior Producer: Nancy Abraham;
Executive Producer: Sheila Nevins.
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