Vancouver, BC (January 26, 2026) – Blue Fox Entertainment and Photon Films and Media announced today that the heartwarming comedic adventure Holy Days will be released exclusively in theaters across North America on March 27, 2026. Blue Fox is handling the U.S. release as well as international sales, with Holy Days on their slate at both Sundance and EFM, while Photon is handling the theatrical release in Canada. The film will have its world Premiere at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival on February 5th, 2026, and is the opening night film at the Victoria Film Festival.
Starring Academy Award nominee and Emmy, Golden Globe and BAFTA winner Judy Davis (Husbands and Wives), BAFTA winner Miriam Margolyes (Harry Potter franchise), and two-time Academy Award nominee Jacki Weaver (Silver Linings Playbook, Animal Kingdom), the film also features rising star Elijah Tamati (Deep Water), and Nat Boltt (Riverdale), who makes her feature directorial debut.
Written and directed by Vancouver-based Boltt and based on the acclaimed novel by Dame Joy Cowley, Holy Days is a joyful, life-affirming adventure about faith, friendship, and the courage to take one last leap of belief.
In Holy Days, three unconventional nuns embark on a last-ditch road trip across New Zealand from north to south on a journey to fight for their independence. Along the way, they form an unlikely bond with a young Māori boy on a deeply personal mission of his own. When an unexpected snowstorm derails their journey, the group must confront mortality, loss, and the transformative power of love, forgiveness, and connection.
The film is produced by Emma Slade, Michelle Morris, Victoria Dabbs, Roxi Bull, and Sushant Desai, with Tainui Stephens serving as Cultural Producer, and Micah Winiata, Eva Trebilco, and Cameron Liardi as Associate Producers. The production is a collaboration between Velvet Moss and Lily Pictures.
Filmed on location in New Zealand, Holy Days also marks a milestone for the country’s screen industry, serving as a launch project for the nationwide Kahurangi Toi Atea Screen Industry Training Initiative, developed in partnership with Share the Knowledge, Te Wānanga Whare Tapere o Takitimu, Toi Mai, and the Ministry of Culture and Heritage. The film was produced using the state-of-the-art facilities at Kōawa Studios at the University of Canterbury.
Holy Days is made with the financial support of the New Zealand Film Commission, New Zealand Screen Production Rebate, Telefilm Canada, Creative BC, CBC Films, Elemental Post, and additional partners.
ABOUT BLUE FOX ENTERTAINMENT:
Blue Fox Entertainment is an international film sales and domestic distribution company specializing in connecting filmmakers to audiences and buyers around the world. The company has a deep history in film production, marketing, finance, sales and distribution.
Blue Fox Entertainment’s recent international sales titles include the Big Girls Don’t Cry, premiering at Sundance Film Festival 2026, starring Ani Palmer, Rain Spencer (The Summer I turned Pretty), and Noah Taylor; How to Lose a Popularity Contest starring TikTok Influencer Chase Hudson (Huddy) and Sara Weisglass; Kissing is the Easy Part, a YA rom-com directed by Fawzia Mirza and based on the Wattpad novel, starring Asher Angel and Paris Berelc; Sidelined: The QB and Me and it’s sequel Sidelined 2: Intercepted, based on the Wattpad sensation and starring TikTok influencer Noah Beck and Siena Agudong; Adam MacDonald’s horror thriller This is Not a Test, starring Olivia Holt, Froy Gutierrez, and Luke Macfarlane; Nat Boltt’s heartwarming comedic adventure Holy Days starring Judy Davis, Miriam Margolyes and Jacki Weaver, and The Panic, the financial thriller starring Cary Elwes, Malcolm McDowell, Justin Chatwin, and Cristiana Dell’Anna.
Blue Fox Entertainment’s recent US release slate includes the animated features TAFITI : Across the desert and A Sloth Story, the award-winning animated feature Kensuke’s Kingdom starring Cillian Murphy, Sally Hawkins, Ken Watanabe and Aaron MacGregor; the sci-fi adventure XENO produced by Kevin Hart and his global entertainment company, starring Lulu Wilson, Wrenn Schmidt, Paul Schneider and Omari Hardwick; the inspirational true story Lost on a Mountain in Maine produced by Sylvester Stallone; Hard Miles starring Matthew Modine and Sean Astin, Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, based on the bestselling novel and produced by Lin-Manuel Miranda; the acclaimed stop-motion animation The Inventor featuring the voices of Stephen Fry, Daisy Ridley and Marion Cotillard, and the family-friendly adventure Autumn and the Black Jaguar and The Wolf and the Lion from director Gilles de Maistre. bluefoxentertainment.com
ABOUT PHOTON FILMS
Launched in 2010, Photon Films and Media, formerly Pacific Northwest Pictures, is a leading Canadian entertainment company specializing in the development, financing, production and distribution of feature films for the domestic and international marketplace. With an emphasis on high quality films from leading filmmakers in diverse genres, Photon Films brings those films to consumers with innovative forms of marketing and distribution across all distribution platforms.
Recent theatrical releases include the SXSW Grand Jury and Audience Award Winner Bob Trevino Likes It from writer/director Tracie Laymon and starring Barbie Ferreira and John Leguizamo, Tribeca Audience Award Winner Bad Shabbos with Kyra Sedgwick, David Paymer and Method Man. Upcoming films include Pillion from director Harry Lighton starring Alexander Skarsgård and Harry Milling and 2025 TIFF selections Youngblood from director Hubert Davis and starring Blair Underwood and Ashton James, Little Lorraine from director Andy Hines and starring Stephen Amell, Sean Astin, J Balvin, Matt Walsh, Rhys Darby and Stephen McHattie and Nouvelle Vague from Richard Linklater. photonfilms.ca
ABOUT VELVET MOSS AND LILY PICTURES:
Velvet Moss produces world-class screen content alongside passionate and dedicated creative and financial partners, telling authentic, fresh and captivating stories for global audiences. Anchored in New Zealand but with a keen eye on the international marketplace, the company’s broad slate includes local projects as well as international co-productions. Highlights include audience favorite Bookworm opening Fantasia Film Festival 2024, Uproar (starring Minnie Driver, Julian Dennison and Rhys Darby) selected for TIFF 2023, Mister Organ (David Farrier) which was New Zealand’s highest grossing feature documentary in 2022, distributed with Netflix and a New York Times Top Critic’s Pick. Come to Daddy premiered at Tribeca 2019 and won Best Director (Ant Timpson) and Best Actor (Elijah Wood) at the Toronto After Dark Festival 2019.
Lily Pictures has built a reputation as a trusted partner in the global screen industry by producing resonant stories with a distinct voice, rigorous development, and meticulous execution. Based in Toronto and Vancouver, the company is led by industry veterans Michelle Morris and Sushant Desai. With several decades of experience across studio features, independent films, and international co-productions, Lily Pictures is a respected collaborator in Canadian and global markets, leveraging co-production treaties, production fluency, and in-house financial expertise.
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