12-21-2021, 05:24 PM
Entry for Best New IDU Film
Father Christmas
Everyone knows and loves Father Christmas. A fat, jolly old man dressed in red, who delivers presents to all the good children of Sanctaria, and the rest of the IDU. Well, that's what he likes to project, anyway. What very few people know is that Father Christmas is a devious, cruel, and capricious old man, who steals children during the year, and forces them into slave labour in his isolated village far in the deep, snow-covered mountains of Sanctaria.
Set in December 1790 in the then Papal States of Sanctaria, the film follows Nicholai, or Nic for short, (Cameron Edwards) who wakes up dazed and confused in a dusty, dangerous coal mine. The last thing he remembered was helping a kindly old man fix the shoe of his horse before feeling a massive whack to the back of his head. Upon waking, he meets Mary (Kathy Sinclair) who tells him that the old man he helped was actually Father Christmas (Lawrence Potter) in disguise, and he had captured Nic to put him to work in the coal mine he operated. Nic also learns that children who followed Father Christmas' strict rules were "promoted" and moved to his workshop to create little wooden toys - the wooden toys that Nic knew Father Christmas delivered to good children.
With the help of Mary and other children captured and kept in the mine, Nic dreams up an escape plan. When Father Christmas' evil guardsmen, the tiny but equally cruel Elves, aren't looking, the children steal some of the pickaxes they were using to mine, and use them to break their chains. Nic leads some of the male* children in a battle against the Elves in the mine, hitting them and beating them about the heads with the pickaxes, and then chaining them up instead, using some coal as mouth gags.
Mary takes the opportunity to interrogate one of the Elves, and learns that Father Christmas steals children to mine his coal that he sells to lords and ladies and other rich people in Sanctaria. He created the toys and the fantasy of Father Christmas to encourage children to help strangers throughout the year, enticing them to be good so they get some of the wonderful wooden toys that are created by some of the more older, well-behaved slaves in the workshop. Then, every so often, Father Christmas steals children that help him in his various disguises, bringing them back to his camp to replace other child slaves that die. Mary also learns that when child slaves get older, or too big and too strong, Father Christmas kills them and feeds them to his Elves. The Elf also tells her the children in the workshop are usually killed after they work there for a few Christmases, and that the current bunch in the workshop are all due to be slaughtered the very next day.
When Nic and the others learn about this, they decide by vote to rescue the older children, even though that means going into the workshop where the terrible Father Christmas himself stands watch. They wait for nightfall, and gather their pickaxes, and sneak up through a forest that lies between the mine and the workshop. When they peak in the window, they see Father Christmas in his true form, a grotesque, towering beast, black as the night and with eyes red as hot coals. In his hand he has a massive whip that he uses to spur the child slaves on to make more and more toys. As they watch, they see a child collapse under exhaustion only then to further witness Father Christmas beat the fallen child to death.
Many of the children lose hope at this sight, but Nic and Mary give rousing speeches that encourage them to storm the workshop, taking the monster by surprise. While the male* children surround the beastly Father Christmas, Mary and some of the female* children release the child slaves working on the wooden toys, and then they too join the fight. Though some children are hurt really badly, they eventually prevail over the Father Christmas beast - revealed after to be a Krampus, an ancient goat-like creature - and the children are saved.
As the children began to make the big journey back home, Mary reveals to Nic that her family is dead and she has nowhere to go, so she was thinking of staying in the workshop where she would be warm. She would use the land and farm surrounding the workshop to feed herself too. Nic realises he has strong feelings for Mary, and tells her he'll stay with her. Some of the older children want to stay too, believing the carpentry skills they've learned while creating the wooden toys will help them bring in income for themselves. Mary suggests continuing the benevolent side of the Christmas fantasy, creating wooden toys and delivering them to poor children around the area, as she knew from experience it was often the only highlight of the year for some children. Nic agrees and suggests giving some of the coal in the mine to the naughty children, to remind them to be good or else they too could end up slaves or something equally horrible if they continue on their naughty path.
The films ends with a flashforward by 30 years. Nicolai and Mary are now married, with some children of their own, and with many of their old friends still working in the workshop making toys, but this time in much better conditions. The Elves too are working with them, as it turns out that they were only evil because they were being fed human flesh. Snow falls over the cities in Sanctaria, and the credits roll with some traditional carols being sung by the workers as they work.
*Note for Judges: The film is set in late 18th century Sanctaria, a theocracy with rigid gender roles and other gender stereotypes.
Director: Regina Lakeside
Runtime: 165 minutes
Year Released: 2021
Starring: Cameron Edwards, Kathy Sinclar, Lawrence Potter, David Truncheon, Louisa Berry, Norma Stevens, Richard Bull
Entry for Best Actor in an IDU Film
Kathy Sinclar as Mary Florence Baker in Father Christmas
Sinclar (16) has been an actor for 11 years. Starting in television commercials at the age of 5, Sinclar went on to star in some made-for-tv movies as a toddler or young child, before being cast in feature films from the age of 10. This is Sinclar's third major movie, and second where she is a leading character.
Father Christmas
Everyone knows and loves Father Christmas. A fat, jolly old man dressed in red, who delivers presents to all the good children of Sanctaria, and the rest of the IDU. Well, that's what he likes to project, anyway. What very few people know is that Father Christmas is a devious, cruel, and capricious old man, who steals children during the year, and forces them into slave labour in his isolated village far in the deep, snow-covered mountains of Sanctaria.
Set in December 1790 in the then Papal States of Sanctaria, the film follows Nicholai, or Nic for short, (Cameron Edwards) who wakes up dazed and confused in a dusty, dangerous coal mine. The last thing he remembered was helping a kindly old man fix the shoe of his horse before feeling a massive whack to the back of his head. Upon waking, he meets Mary (Kathy Sinclair) who tells him that the old man he helped was actually Father Christmas (Lawrence Potter) in disguise, and he had captured Nic to put him to work in the coal mine he operated. Nic also learns that children who followed Father Christmas' strict rules were "promoted" and moved to his workshop to create little wooden toys - the wooden toys that Nic knew Father Christmas delivered to good children.
With the help of Mary and other children captured and kept in the mine, Nic dreams up an escape plan. When Father Christmas' evil guardsmen, the tiny but equally cruel Elves, aren't looking, the children steal some of the pickaxes they were using to mine, and use them to break their chains. Nic leads some of the male* children in a battle against the Elves in the mine, hitting them and beating them about the heads with the pickaxes, and then chaining them up instead, using some coal as mouth gags.
Mary takes the opportunity to interrogate one of the Elves, and learns that Father Christmas steals children to mine his coal that he sells to lords and ladies and other rich people in Sanctaria. He created the toys and the fantasy of Father Christmas to encourage children to help strangers throughout the year, enticing them to be good so they get some of the wonderful wooden toys that are created by some of the more older, well-behaved slaves in the workshop. Then, every so often, Father Christmas steals children that help him in his various disguises, bringing them back to his camp to replace other child slaves that die. Mary also learns that when child slaves get older, or too big and too strong, Father Christmas kills them and feeds them to his Elves. The Elf also tells her the children in the workshop are usually killed after they work there for a few Christmases, and that the current bunch in the workshop are all due to be slaughtered the very next day.
When Nic and the others learn about this, they decide by vote to rescue the older children, even though that means going into the workshop where the terrible Father Christmas himself stands watch. They wait for nightfall, and gather their pickaxes, and sneak up through a forest that lies between the mine and the workshop. When they peak in the window, they see Father Christmas in his true form, a grotesque, towering beast, black as the night and with eyes red as hot coals. In his hand he has a massive whip that he uses to spur the child slaves on to make more and more toys. As they watch, they see a child collapse under exhaustion only then to further witness Father Christmas beat the fallen child to death.
Many of the children lose hope at this sight, but Nic and Mary give rousing speeches that encourage them to storm the workshop, taking the monster by surprise. While the male* children surround the beastly Father Christmas, Mary and some of the female* children release the child slaves working on the wooden toys, and then they too join the fight. Though some children are hurt really badly, they eventually prevail over the Father Christmas beast - revealed after to be a Krampus, an ancient goat-like creature - and the children are saved.
As the children began to make the big journey back home, Mary reveals to Nic that her family is dead and she has nowhere to go, so she was thinking of staying in the workshop where she would be warm. She would use the land and farm surrounding the workshop to feed herself too. Nic realises he has strong feelings for Mary, and tells her he'll stay with her. Some of the older children want to stay too, believing the carpentry skills they've learned while creating the wooden toys will help them bring in income for themselves. Mary suggests continuing the benevolent side of the Christmas fantasy, creating wooden toys and delivering them to poor children around the area, as she knew from experience it was often the only highlight of the year for some children. Nic agrees and suggests giving some of the coal in the mine to the naughty children, to remind them to be good or else they too could end up slaves or something equally horrible if they continue on their naughty path.
The films ends with a flashforward by 30 years. Nicolai and Mary are now married, with some children of their own, and with many of their old friends still working in the workshop making toys, but this time in much better conditions. The Elves too are working with them, as it turns out that they were only evil because they were being fed human flesh. Snow falls over the cities in Sanctaria, and the credits roll with some traditional carols being sung by the workers as they work.
*Note for Judges: The film is set in late 18th century Sanctaria, a theocracy with rigid gender roles and other gender stereotypes.
Director: Regina Lakeside
Runtime: 165 minutes
Year Released: 2021
Starring: Cameron Edwards, Kathy Sinclar, Lawrence Potter, David Truncheon, Louisa Berry, Norma Stevens, Richard Bull
Entry for Best Actor in an IDU Film
Kathy Sinclar as Mary Florence Baker in Father Christmas
Sinclar (16) has been an actor for 11 years. Starting in television commercials at the age of 5, Sinclar went on to star in some made-for-tv movies as a toddler or young child, before being cast in feature films from the age of 10. This is Sinclar's third major movie, and second where she is a leading character.