We know you are looking forward to watching your share of holiday movies soon, and guess what, we’ve got you covered! Read on to see our staff’s favorite holiday movies…
Fallon, our Executive Director, says everyone should see A Smoky Mountain Christmas (1980) in which the one and only Dolly Parton teams up with Lee Majors to rescue seven runaway orphans from a sheriff and a witch, just wow!
“When you’re in love with a married man, you shouldn’t wear mascara.” Clint, our Artistic Director suggests The Apartment (1960) for a classic love affair story with holiday vibes.
Our Operations Director, Monika, chose a film based on a short story by
Olga Tokarczuk (recent Nobel Prize winner in Literature) – Zhoorek (2003). It is a touching story of a widow, who is looking for a father of an illegitimate grandson just before Christmas in order to baptize him. The story reinterprets the main message of Catholicism, showing that the social stigmatization of single motherhood is in deep contradiction with Christian teaching. In its center lies the story of Jesus Christ as the illegitimate son of Mary.
Zaf, our Marketing Director, goes with a choice you cannot really go wrong with even if it’s the tenth time you’re watching it. Maybe the best house swap story there is, The Holiday (2006) never ceases to entertain and fill hearts with hope for finding love during the holidays.
Not a fan of mushy love stories? Our Development Director, Jennifer, has a film for you! Bad Santa (2003) finds a mall Santa and his elf ripping off shopping outlets on Christmas Eve.
Last but not least, Katie, our Development Coordinator, also loves to love with Love Actually (2003) where you have not one but eight couples trying to make their way under that mistletoe.
If you would like more suggestions, check out local reviewer Yvette‘s website for a plethora of humorous reviews of holiday movies, all of which you can find on TV.
Zaf Yumru
Originally from Turkey, Zaferhan (Zaf) Yumru is a film and arts marketing professional, writer, photographer, and filmmaker. Zaf worked for !f Istanbul Independent Film Festival for 8 years, programming mainly for the festival’s queer film slate whilst working as the marketing manager. He fundraised and produced several independent documentaries and narrative film projects. He founded zu, a boutique pr & marketing agency in Istanbul dedicated to film, arts & culture, in 2015. Upon immigrating to the U.S. in 2017, Zaf joined the New Orleans Film Society, where he now works as the director of marketing and communications. He is also the co-director of the Patois New Orleans Human Rights Film Festival and has been working as the publicity manager of the Overlook Film Festival since 2018. Zaf supports local filmmakers with their crowdfunding campaigns, festival strategy, and production. He is getting ready to direct his first short narrative film, Bush, later in 2020.