Venom Films has announced that So This Is Christmas, directed by Ken Wardrop, has been selected to have its North American premiere at the Hot Docs Film Festival in Toronto this May.
Hot Docs is a film festival dedicated to non-fiction storytelling, and this year it will provide the Irish documentary So This Is Christmas with its North American premiere. The Ken Wardrop-directed film had its World Premiere in November 2023 at the Cork International Film Festival. IFTN sat down with Wardrop ahead of the film’s world premiere, to discuss how the documentary uses Christmas as its subject and the complicated relationship many have with the festive time of year.
The synopsis for the film is as follows: “It’s late November and the expectations of the impending festive season are growing. Christmas trees are being bought, festive music turned up and presents scrambled for. It’s all getting very bright and loud, excessive and expensive. So this is Christmas takes us on an emotional and heartening journey with five ordinary characters as they navigate personal dilemmas triggered by this overwhelming time of year. Amid their everyday lives and struggles, we discover stories of extraordinary resilience and humble bravery.”
Speaking on the film’s selection at Hot Docs, director Wardrop said: "We are honoured to have our film So This Is Christmas selected for this year’s Hot Docs festival. Over the years this festival has provided a wonderful platform for important stories to be shared, and we are excited to bring our film to audiences in Toronto and beyond."
So This Is Christmas was supported by Screen Ireland, RTE, The Broadcasting Authority of Ireland, Creative Europe and several other funding agencies. Distributed by Breakout Pictures, the film had a theatrical run in Irish cinemas last Christmas and Irish audiences will have the opportunity to catch it again on RTE in the lead-up to next Christmas.
Worldwide distribution for the documentary is being handled by Autlook Sales, an international sales agent specialising in documentary films.
Hot Docs 2024 will take place from April 25th to May 5th.
