Christmas, Again
December's Top 30 Films
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1h 18m
Directed by Charles Poekel • Drama • With Kentucker Audley, Hannah Gross • 2015 • 80 minutes
For a fifth consecutive December, a heartbroken Noel returns to New York City to work the night shift at a sidewalk Christmas tree lot. Devoid of any holiday spirit, he struggles to stay awake during the long, chilly nights in his trailer, while the daytime traffic keeps him from getting any real rest. As he slowly spirals into despair, he comes to the aid of a mysterious young woman in the park. Her warming presence, matched with some colorful customers, help rescue him from self-destruction.
"Crafted with affection and attentive to workaday rhythms, this first feature from writer-director Charles Poekel demonstrates an authentic feel for the neighborhood, where he himself once sold trees." —Chicago Reader
Up Next in December's Top 30 Films
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Sherman's March (Ross McElwee)
Directed by Ross McElwee • Documentary • 1986 • 155 minutes
When First Run released Ross McElwee's Sundance Award winning Sherman's March in 1986, it went on to become one of the largest grossing documentaries ever. Audiences and critics alike fell in love with McElwee's "quirky, funny and fasci...
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Leila and the Wolves
Directed by Heiny Srour • Documentary • With Nabila Zeitouni, Rafik Ali Ahmad • 94 minutes
Drawing on the Arab heritage of the ‘Arabian Nights’, Leila and the Wolves combines fictional drama, archival footage, fantasy sequences, mosaic pattern, to refute the colonial and male dominated version o...
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The Hour of Liberation Has Arrived
Directed by Heiny Srour • Documentary • 68 minutes
In the late 60s, Dhofar rose up against the British-backed Sultanate of Oman, in a democratic, Leninist guerrilla movement. Srour and her team crossed 500 miles of desert and mountains by foot, under bombardment by the British Royal Air Force, t...