Queen Mimi


Queen Mimi is a 2015 documentary film about the life of Marie "Mimi" Haist, an octogenarian homeless woman who lived in a Santa Monica laundromat for 18 years, directed by Yaniv Rokah and produced by Elliot V. Kotek.

Release

The film was selected for the Sarasota Film Festival. In May 2016, XLrator Media released the film worldwide.

Cast

Awards and nominations

YearAwardFestivalResult
2015Best DocumentaryManhattan Film FestivalWon
2015Spirit AwardChagrin [Documentary Film Festival]Won
2015Spirit AwardHot Springs Documentary Film FestivalWon
2015Best Director AwardSt Tropez International Film FestivalWon

Soundtrack

Queen Mimi is a 2016 soundtrack album from the documentary containing a song by Grammy Award nominee Deana Carter titled "Celebrate Life", written by Ralph Stevens and Deana Carter.

Relationship to Zach Galifianakis

befriended Haist decades before the release of the documentary, paying her rent until her death for much of this duration despite not yet achieving widespread fame and fortune as a comic for much of this time. Haist had been rendered homeless in her 50s as a result of a divorce with her husband who had been unfaithful. Galifianakis maintained a close friendship with Haist, once taking her as a date on the red carpet for his movie The Hangover in 2009.
Haist died in 2021 at the age of 95.