So This Is Christmas
★ 8 · 2023 · 86m · Documentary
Illuminating the challenges often unseen beyond the toys, trees and tinsel, people in a small Irish village reflect on their difficult relationships with Christmas. "So This Is Christmas" is a heartwarming and charming portrait from award-winning director Ken Wardrop, which perfectly exemplies his innate ability to tell the stories of ordinary people, depicting their thoughts, feelings and experiences in an empathetic way. Beautifully rendered in 35mm, the film is authentic and compassionate, and a valuable addition to the Irish documentary canon.
More Like This
Inside Lidl at Christmas
2020
Does the supermarket offer the cheapest Christmas cheer? The Wynne family put the store through its paces, to find out whether it offers the cheapest turkey and trimmings.
More info →
Inside Aldi at Christmas
2019
Learn how the budget supermarket conquered Christmas in Britain and what random delights are on offer in the famous and festive middle aisle, as one family sees how many gifts they can get for £100.
More info →
Sacred Music: A Christmas History
2010
Simon Russell Beale takes a journey through Italy, Britain, Germany and Austria as he explores how the sound of Christmas has evolved in response to changing ideas about the Nativity. His story takes us through two millennia of music, from a fragment of papyrus preserving the earliest known piece of Christian music to the stories behind Hark the Herald Angels Sing, Silent Night and In the Bleak Midwinter, and the work of popular Christmas composer, John Rutter. Music is performed by Harry Christophers and his choir, The Sixteen.
More info →
Dancing the Nutcracker: Inside the Royal Ballet
2016 · ★ 10
This Christmas, step into the magical world of The Nutcracker. For the first time in many years, the Royal Ballet has given full access behind the scenes for a landmark 90-minute documentary as they prepare for this season's yuletide production.
More info →
Alpine Train at Christmas
2024
Climb aboard the illustrious Bernina Express for a festive ride through spectacular Alpine landscapes, taking in snow-covered peaks, architectural wonders, and majestic glaciers.
More info →
A Very British Hotel at Christmas
2024 · ★ 8
Cameras go behind the scenes at Brown's, London's oldest luxury hotel, during the Christmas season, as staff face the expectations of delivering a luxury festive stay for guests booking rooms that start at £750 a night. The hotel's elite team hosts a vibrant charity Christmas fayre, creates imaginative festive pastries, and concocts a signature holiday cocktail, all aimed at delivering the Christmas feast of a lifetime.
More info →
The Days Before Christmas
1958 · ★ 7
This short documentary depicts Christmastime in Montreal. The milling crowds, department store Santas, Brink's messengers, kindergarten angels and boisterous nightclubs all combine to make a vivid portrait of the holidays.
More info →
Sleigh Ride
2024
It’s Christmas in Alaska, but a sparsely populated state means a scarce amount of priests. From Christmas eve to Christmas day, two Dominicans traverse icy roads and harsh winds to celebrate Christmas mass for 3 remote communities in the last frontier.
More info →
Christmas at the Four Seasons: Park Lane
2024 · ★ 6
Exclusive access to the Four Seasons Hotel, London, in the run-up to Christmas. Expect festive photoshoots, afternoon teas, Christmas trees and sackfuls of presents.
More info →
Christmas TV We Loved and Lost
2025
Unwrapping the best Christmas TV of days gone by - from the 1960s through to the early 1990s remembering a time when, with audiences topping 20 million, Christmas TV really was appointment viewing for the entire nation.
More info →
For Every Apricot
2025
For Every Apricot drifts through the shifting terrain of memory, illustrating a grandmother’s journey in search of a “miracle drug” to cure her father’s illness. What begins as a simple family story, unfurls into a meditation on aging, fragility, and the circinate patterns that shape life. Through live-action interview, 16mm and 8mm archival footage, and a tapestry of handcrafted animation, the film moves between what is remembered, what is imagined, and what time has eroded. As she reflects on her father’s illness alongside her own, For Every Apricot becomes a deeply personal family portrait.
More info →
Mary Berry's Christmas Party
2017
Celebrate the festive season with the perfect dusting of Mary Berry's very own Christmas magic. In a one-off television treat, Mary opens her kitchen to some of TV's best-loved faces as they join her in cooking delicious party dishes especially for her Christmas party. With varying degrees of nerves, skill and determination, but tons of excitement, Alex Jones, Fearne Cotton, Darcey Bussell and Adil Ray take turns to join Mary beside her stove.
More info →