Festive Foreign Film Fans

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Working in Alaska in the 1980s was no place for the fainthearted. It demanded perseverance and fortitude.  Work began before dawn.  The tasks were repetitive, backbreaking, and physical. Bears wandered close enough that you could hear their breath in the dark, or if the boom on the ship knocked you overboard, they weren’t coming back for you.  A seasonal job in the Alaskan wilderness reshaped ...

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For this episode, the Festive Fans start the show feeling a little down.  Our current political landscape in the States has Bob upset with so many in the country living in a constant state of anger.  Then we travel to Colombia, a country with a notorious reputation from a vicious drug trade.  The 1980s and 1990s saw the rise of the infamous drug cartels, whose illicit activities have shaped pe...

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The Festive Fans end their Creepmas in October with a review of the 2021 film “The Advent Calendar” and a salute to Belgium.  We also speak with Sabine Janisela, a diplomat at the Latvian Embassy, who helps us on our Piragi journey, offering both official cultural knowledge along with her own personal experience. 

The "Advent Calendar" is a horror film about a mysterious wooden advent...

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The Festive Fans are off to the “nicest place in the world”, a nation that looks like Christmas itself, with its pine forests, captivating snowfalls, and Hallmark worthy quaint little towns.  The people there are so friendly that the place is bursting with joy.  They even claim Santa as an official citizen.  Yes, that’s right, we are off to our neighbor to the north, Canada, to explore the oth...

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The Festive Fans take a thoughtful and enlightening journey to South Africa this episode to discover Christmas in a country still scarred by apartheid.  We tend to overlook how South Africa is a place of extraordinary beauty — with its Table Mountain, Kruger National Park, pristine beaches, and a rich array of wildlife.  Instead, we define it by its painful past.  By doing so, we discount this...

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So this episode is late.  The Festive Fans had to attend a family celebration and a memorable party, but it was not Christmas.  It was a wedding, an event that is surprisingly similar to our favorite holiday.  They are both bright, warm, and full of promise.  I thought about this while sitting on a beach in the dark, meditating about life, in the moonlit shadow of a beautiful Chicago skyline. ...

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We thought we could make a joke about what the Festive Fans have in common with this episode’s country.  We like to say it’s because we are tall and long, and we were surprised when our wives agreed, but they said we are tall on appetite and long on belt size.  Ha!  Well, it’s no joking matter, we are off to celebrate in the literal spine of South America – Chile!  It’s a land of beautiful con...

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The Festive Fans decided to trek northeast to Greenland to see what the fuss was about.  We found an incredible place the land of the Vikings, filled with towering icebergs, spectacular fjords, incredible wildlife, and the Northern Lights.  OK, so now we get it.  

We also watched a Christmas film called Krudt and Kaerlighed (Gunpowder and Love) from 2019, we learned about some of their favorite...

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As the wives of the Festive Fans know, the best Christmas gifts sometimes come in small packages.  The same can be said of this episode’s location -- Luxembourg.  This mini country is often overlooked and forgotten, as it is wedged in between Belgium, France, and Germany.  However, most Luxembourg residents are trilingual and they enjoy a multicultural history.  Plus, although it may be tiny, ...

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And so it begins … in Estonia! 

We kick off the Festive Fans new season in this small but mighty Eastern European country.  Estonia is a captivating place with considerable natural assets, and, as Mark reminds us, feminine beauty.  Just ask him to name five models from there.  It is no wonder that our film addresses Estonians deep respect for the outdoors.  This is one of the most forested coun...

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Let’s face it, the Festive Fans have willingly talked about foreign Christmas movies twice a month for two years.  You might think that is celebration enough, and you would be right.  It definitely should be, but it’s absolutely not.  Because we also need to have an awards show, of course.  It has to be an over-the-top, completely unnecessary, gloriously self-congratulatory event at a local ca...

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We’re sizzling all the way into a Festive Fans milestone moment — it’s our two-year anniversary and we’re inviting you to join the celebration!  

For 50 episodes, we've been traveling the globe and unwrapping the world’s best gifts -- Christmas movies, music, and memories found in so many different places.  We have visited nearly every continent and observed the unique traditions and custo...

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In the waning days of the old year, when the sun turned hot and the wind warm, there came word from the South Country. It was said that the Fellowship of the Festive Fans had a mission in the land of the Middle Earth. A spiritual quest was formed to find the Kiwi Christmas.

Could it be there, not in the cold hearts of the orcs and the trolls, but in the ordinary folk in the country and the citi...

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The Festive Fans take this episode to Ethiopia to answer that age-old question: “Do They Know It’s Christmas?”  Well, yes they do.  In fact, it’s a lot different than what you might imagine.  They like fasting, then eating, then playing a competitive field hockey game played like medieval combat.  It’s an ancient tradition carried on now with neighbor against neighbor or town against town.  Ty...

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Join the Festive Fans for a little Pura Vida Christmas!  Tonight’s country runs on this magical motto.  After two years, we are finally making our way to Central America.  Our first stop?  We visit the beautiful, lush country of Costa Rica.  We promise that everything about it will bring a smile to your face, including our featured film from 2024, Paradise Falls:  A Christmas Story.  It’s a fe...

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The Festive Fans are on spring break, so we are veering off our main road to take  a new scenic route.  Instead of exploring a foreign country this episode, we are setting the way back machine 65 years to a magical time of those grand scale, over the top, larger than life films, with a literal army of extras and actors who don’t just act—they command the screen. We are instantly being transpor...

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It’s time to grab all your ex-husbands and wives, strip down, and head for the sauna as Christmas is about to get messy.  The Festive Fans are traveling to the Christmas capital of the world this episode – Germany!  We are off to the original home to some of our most cherished holiday traditions.  Plus, as an extra bonus, we get to learn a lot about St. Martin (the patron saint of Germany) and...

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A talking dog?  A racing turtle?  Pizza with ashes?  A one-eyed bald man? What does this all have to do with Christmas?  

Find out this episode as we head out to one of the most biodiverse countries in the world to take on the Solar System or the Del Solar System.  From the Andes Mountains to the Amazon Rainforest, it is Christmas Eve in Peru -- a place with a colorful history and a fascinating...

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When a movie is titled “?”, what is it called?  Is it the symbol?  Is it the words “question mark”? Or, is it just the desire for knowledge and answers?  It is this and other questions that Festive Fans encounter on a visit to explore the rich vibrancy of the world’s largest island nation -- Indonesia.  We review a complicated film that has violence, anger, and prejudice, but also displays com...