Irish Film Institute -Now That’s What I Call Christmas

Now That’s What I Call Christmas

The Irish Film Archive presents an enormously varied programme of short Irish films to get you in the mood for Christmas. Two Amharc Eireann newsreels from the fifties and sixties feature Dublin lighting up for Christmas. The late Tiernan MacBride’s 1978 short film Christmas Morning tells of an encounter between recruiting Sergeant Napper and Arthur McBride on a beach on Christmas morning 1805. Napper tries without success to induct McBride into the British Army. The film is underscored by Paul Brady’s rendering of ‘Arthur McBride and the Sergeant’.

Geraldine Creed’s Into the Abyss (1992) is a poignant story about a young woman who returns to Dublin for Christmas. Her feelings of alienation prevent her from revealing to her family the difficulties she has with living in London.

In Hugh Linehan’s Red and Green (1991), a chance encounter at Switzer’s in Grafton Street on a starry Christmas night leads to a passionate reunion.

A dark comedy about pregnancy and confused paternity, Orla Walsh’s Blessed Fruit (1999) is a modern retelling of the Christmas nativity featuring guest appearances from Joseph and the Virgin Mary.

In Enda Walsh’s Not a Bad Christmas (1999), Kevin recounts the story of a childhood Christmas. His dark wit guides us through a family gathering full of mishap and misfortune. (Total running time approximately 65 min.)

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