FICTION FEATURE FILM | 99’ | GREECE | 2018
DIRECTOR
Maria Lafi
CAST
Nena Menti
Luli Bitri
Anastasia Rafaela Konidi
Samuel Akinola
SYNOPSIS
“Holy Boom” is a drama feature film with multiple storylines, taking place in a multicultural area of Athens during orthodox Easter. The lives of four strangers, who live in the same neighborhood, change dramatically when, on Palm Sunday, the neighborhood’s postbox is blasted just for laughs by Filipino teenager Ige. Documents of vital importance to all of them have been destroyed: Lena and Manou’s LSD stickers, a letter to Thalia from her abandoned child, and Adia’s birth certificate. The consequences are relentless: Lena and Manou are chased by the drug dealer who wants his money back. Adia, an illegal immigrant, is now alone with her newborn child, unable to even identify the corpse of her husband, who has just died in a car accident. Ige tries in vain to be accepted by the local community and Thalia, who is watching everyone in the neighborhood, has lost her only chance to find happiness.
PREMIERE
València
FESTIVALS
Nomination
Hellenic Film Academy 2019. Nominated for Best Film Director (Maria Lafi) and Visual Special Effects (Antonis Kotzias)
Awards (among others)
BEST DIRECTOR/ MARIA LAFI- 12thFESTIVAL INTERNATIONAL DE CINE DEBAJO LA LUNA–ISLANTILLA CINEFORUM
BEST FEATURE FILM– 2nd ANNUAL HOUSTON GREEK FILM FESTIVAL(HGFF), USA
BESTINTERNATIONALFEATURE FILM – ATHENS MARATHON INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL, GREECE / 2019
BEST FOREIGN FEATURE FILM – 10thJAGRAN FILM FESTIVAL(JFF), INDIA/ 2019
BEST FEATURE FILM– 15thRENGOINTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL, CHILE
MARIA LAFI
Was born in 1967 in Athens. She studied Photography and Audiovisual Arts at the Technological Educational Institute of Athens and Film Direction at the Hellenic Cinema and Television School of STAVRAKOS in Athens. She went on to complete a Master of Arts in Video Production, Audiovisual Media and Motion Graphics at West Attica University. Maria has made several awarded short films, such as “For eternity” (2014) and “Circo de la vida” (2006), while her first feature film “Holy Boom”(2018), received multiple international awards, such as Best Film in FCZ 23:Festival de cine de Zaragoza in Spain and the Grand Prix at Festival International Du Film De Fes in Morocco. She has also received numerous honorary mentions and has been nominated by the Hellenic Film Academy for the award of director debut.