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Synopsis: The story of a Mother’s Day in the life of LALI (12) who lives alone with his severely narcissistic, alcoholic mother who physically and emotionally abuses and humiliates him. Despite all this, or maybe because of this, Lali’s attachment to his mother is stronger than the average kids’ – he sees his mother as the best mother in the world, even if he has to lie to protect this image. He escapes reality and prays to God at night, asking that his mother would change. But the sad reality remains that his alcoholic mother cannot give up drinking: she is only focused on herself, and cannot function as a mother. So Lali is left with an imaginary mother who only exists in his fantasies.

Language

Hungarian

Run Time

15 minutes

Starring

Titania Valentin (Mother)
Boldizsar Simon (Lali)
Kati Zsurzs (Teacher)

Directed by

Gergely Fonyo

Written by

Gergely Fonyo

Produced by

Katalin Fonyo
Gabor Ferenczy

Director's Statement

This film is based on my own childhood. My mother was an alcoholic. I carried this secret for many years, I was ashamed about what went on at home. I was always jealous of the kids who had normal parents: they were the ones getting the awards, they got presents, recognition, and their parents sat there proud at school events. Unfortunately, not every kid is so lucky. Statistics show that all over the world, millions of children live with parents who are alcoholics. In the United States, 1 in every 10 children lives in a home with an alcoholic parent. In my native Hungary, 19.3% of the population is abusing alcohol in some form – the highest rate in the world.

These kids go to school each day from a home where they are neglected, humiliated and often get beat up each night. But they don’t ever tell anyone about what happens because they are ashamed, and because they love their parents unconditionally. They don’t have a voice, they don’t have representation. They just suffer in silence. I’d like to tell the story of these kids in this short film.

Director's Bio

Gergely’s directorial debut Johnny Famous, a drama feature he wrote, directed and produced about a complex mother and son relationship won the First Prize in the Hungarian Film Week in 2000. He has been successfully directing feature films and television ever since. His recent works include THE HOUSE OF THE STONE MONKEYS – a Tv movie nominated for 2015 Rocky Awards at Banff World Media Festival, and for the Golden Panda Award – Best Director category at the Sichuan International TV Festival; as well as MADE IN HUNGARIA, a musical comedy feature film, which was selected for Karlovy Vary Variety Critics Choice Section, and won Best Picture at the Granada Film Festival in 2009.

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