It’s the most magical time of the year – under the magnifying glass that is the holiday season, joy and pain lie close together. While a small Irish town prepares for a fast approaching Christmas, some struggle with the stress and expectation that comes with it. Shot on 35mm, Ken Wardrop creates a different kind of holiday movie with compassion, Irish humor and a lot of heart.

“These are tender and honest portrayals of lives lived outside the barrage of cheer and commercialised fabrications. Wardrop excels at capturing the platitudes of the season which people encounter, but can clearly be triggering.” (Totally Dublin)

“’I always think the Christmas is a sad time.’ That chestnut really could be the tagline for the latest documentary from the indestructible Irish humanist Ken Wardrop. No facetiousness is intended.” (The Irish Times)

Filmmaker Ken Wardrop was educated at the National Film School Ireland, where he specialised in documentary direction. His short documentaries have screened at many of the world’s most prestigious festivals, including the Clermont-Ferrand and Sundance Film Festivals. His graduation documentary film UNDRESSING MY MOTHER won the European Academy Award for Best Short Film. His debut feature documentary HIS & HERS received the World Cinematography Award at the Sundance Film Festival. His subsequent documentaries, MOM AND ME and MAKING THE GRADE, continued to explore themes of love, family and connection.

Filmography (selection): 2004 UNDRESSING MY MOTHER, 2008 THE HERD (both short films), 2009 HIS & HERS, 2015 MOM & ME, 2023 SO THIS IS CHRISTMAS