"Christmas Can be the perfect storm for your problems" - Ken Wardrop

This Christmas, prepare to have your heart broken by one of Ireland’s most tender documentarians, Ken Wardrop. In the spirit of the great festive classics like A Christmas Carol and It’s A Wonderful Life, Wardrop’s new documentary shows us the dark and difficult sides of life, so that we can more keenly appreciate the light.

“Christmas films,” says the director, “are all about how the light gets through the cracks eventually.”

While some of Wardrop’s other films such as His & Hers, which saw 70 women of all ages talk about the men in their lives, and Mom and Me, which explored the relationships men have with their mothers, used a large number of short interviews to paint a portrait of love, So This Is Christmas focuses on only five people.

This closer focus allows Wardrop’s empathic interviews to linger in the nuance of their complicated relationship with the festive season. Mary has an eating disorder and finds the relentless focus on food over Christmas an anxiety-laden nightmare. Loretta is a single mother who is struggling to pay the bills, let alone buy Christmas presents for her children.

Jason is a recent widow, who is raising his young two sons while grieving the loss of his soulmate. Meanwhile, seemingly cheerful Shane and wry Annette have little or no family, and are facing a Christmas where they’re afterthoughts. As Annette heartbreakingly articulates, “Loneliness is one thing, but being invisible and forgotten is another.”

Wardrop had been thinking about making a film about Christmas for a long time, after his grandmother died in his family home on Christmas morning when he was 12.

“It left a mark on Christmases thereafter as dark times,” he reflects. “Especially as my mom had been very close to her, and I suppose my mum just dreaded Christmas afterwards. It became a time of memories instead of a joyous occasion. It left some darkness around the time of year for us for quite a while.”

Wardrop also saw friends and family members struggle with not only the financial pressures of Christmas, but the seemingly impossible expectations around constant joy and picture-perfect happy families.

“We all have problems in our lives,” he posits. “Christmas can be the perfect storm for your problems, because whether you’re dealing with financial woes or grief or family difficulties, everything seems to accentuate at that time of year. I didn’t know of any documentaries about ordinary lives around Christmas and how it affects us.”

The power of So This Is Christmas lies in its open and honest tackling of issues that affect so many people, but are still unfortunately often mired in shame and silence; eating disorders, financial struggles, and loneliness. I tell Wardrop that when I left the film, my mascara significantly smudged, I felt determined to try connect more with my elderly neighbours, particularly those who live alone.

“If I thought for one minute it would make someone visit an elderly neighbour at Christmas, that would be such a happy outcome for me, that's beautiful to know,” says the director. “But it’s also so people just feel seen. You go out with the best intentions, and ultimately hope you’re helping people who have difficult lives to face Christmas knowing they’re not alone.

“There are others in the same boat. I think each of the characters in their own little way are an inspiration.”

Wardrop’s mother has always been a huge influence on his life and work. His first film, Undressing My Mother, saw the filmmaker interview his mother, and his films Mom And Me and His & Hers were also inspired by her. Sadly, his mother and muse died as he was editing the film, and he’s now facing his first Christmas without her.

I tell Wardrop that while it’s never explicitly stated, So This Is Christmas feels like a love letter to mothers and the way they create Christmas for their families, through the cooking, decorating, care work, and the act of gathering the family together – work that has always traditionally been done by women. Each of the interviews alludes to the importance of mothers – and the deep grief felt when they are gone.

“It’s so interesting to hear that,” he says. “I didn’t think of that, but thinking back on casting, I'm drawn to certain stories. So you meet someone like Loretta who is a single mum and she’s wonderful mum. Then you have Mary, who speaks about her mom and has herself given up the hope of being a mom. Annette was the daughter of a single mother and that isn’t addressed but it’s ever present, and Jason, of course, talks a lot about his sons growing up without their mother.

“And Shane, who can be sort of forgotten in the film because the way he goes about his business seems quite cheerful, but deep down Christmases for him are always his mum. There are so many powerful moments in the interviews, and I guess instinctively I would be drawn to that special bond we have with our mothers. And Christmas, certainly in my home, relied on my mother because she pulled it together.

“She provided not only the food, but the warmth. I think you're right that I would have been drawn to these stories subconsciously. I hadn’t thought of it, but it’s all about the mother. Sometimes you do things instinctively and things just emerge.”

So This Is Christmas is in cinemas now.