What do a 12-year-old fatherless boy, a middle school dropout, a father with a suicidal son, an alcoholic, and a 35-year-old film teacher all have in common? Each and every one of them have an undying-passion for paintball.

On Tuesday, September 23, 2015, a combination of 40-students, friends, and family members gathered together in the Faith Lutheran Library for the early screening of Mr. Diaz’s first documentry, Holding the Wire. Computer science teacher, Mr. Diaz, finally finished the production of his debut film that took roughly six years to produce.

Holding the Wire, a documentary motion picture, is seen through the eyes of Mr. Diaz as he narrates his interactions and experiences on and off the paintball field. Throughout the film, the audience is taken on an emotional journey, learning about some of the unknown factors that take place in a game of paintball.  Mr. Diaz shows a heartwarming rendition of the fairly unpopular sport, which introduces a spiritual and inside look on who plays the sport.

The film is rated R, due to profanity. Mr. Diaz felt that the uncensored curse words would give the audience more insight on who the people were.

“If you were to censor Pop, (a character in the documentary) and his curse words, you would be censoring a lot of his conversation. It wouldn’t be his character. That is who he is. One thing I hope the audience pulled from my documentary is not to judge.”

Mr. Diaz entered Holding the Wire to at least a dozen film festivals, and is most excited to hear from the Sun Dance Film Festival.

“No one has done a film like mine before. I’ve always liked doing things that people haven’t tried before, and there are no more paintball documentaries today; the ones that still exist aren’t very good,” said Diaz. “I wanted to make a paintball documentary that would appease the general audience, not just paintball players. I wanted ordinary people to enjoy a paintball movie for once.”

Lastly, Mr. Diaz gave some advice for anyone with the same dream.

“Whatever you do don’t give up, no matter the circumstances, always persevere. No matter what, don’t give up.”

For those who didn’t get the chance to attend Mr. Diaz’s screening, there will be another one soon so keep your eyes out for more information.