BossaNova Media, the content creation, funding and distribution company, has picked up three new Christmas specials for international sales.
All three 1 x 60 mins documentaries — Christmas at Lapland UK, Alpine Train at Christmas and Secrets of the Christmas Market — are produced for Channel 4 by GroupM Motion Content, in partnership with, respectively, DocHearts, King of Sunshine Productions and Afro-Mic Productions.
DocHearts’ Christmas in Lapland UK invites viewers to England’s immersive experience set in a forest on the outskirts of London. Started 17 years ago by Alison and Mike Battle, Lapland UK now turns over almost £20m during its six-week run.
The documentary chronicles the auditions that whittle 10,000 hopeful actors down to a cast of 1,000 elves, the Hollywood-trained set-builders who transform the 164-acre site into a winter wonderland, complete with Santa’s grotto and an entire Bavarian village, the costume-makers who hand-stitch outfits worth up to £4,000, and the postal workers, who are responsible for sorting and replying to Santa’s overflowing mail bag.
Alpine Train at Christmas is King of Sunshine’s film which follows the Bernina Express, which has transversed the Swiss and Italian Alps since 1910, carrying passengers through breathtaking winter landscapes.
Now designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the train winds through 55 tunnels and over 196 bridges, reaching elevations of up to 2,253 metres on its 76-mile run. The one-hour documentary offers a window on the lives of those who keep life in the Alps moving, including farmers preparing for winter, artisans crafting holiday gifts and railway workers ensuring safe passage through treacherous snow-covered peaks.
Secrets of the Christmas Market throws the spotlight on Belfast. Unimpeded by Brexit red tape, the Northern Ireland capital hosts the UK’s most diverse Christmas market, which draws in more than 100 stallholders and 1.2 million visitors from across the world. Afro-Mic’s festive film centres on market ‘queen bee’ Esther, the formidable head of PR, and stand construction boss Marvin, a self-confessed Christmas grinch. Also featured are some of the international vendors who make Belfast their home for six weeks every Christmas — and who are required to dress up as Victorians in line with the market’s Dickensian theme.
Paul Heaney, CEO and founder of BossaNova, said: “What better time to launch our Christmas shows than July ?! There are only a finite number of fresh and original festive shows on the market so we saw this trio as a great way to present something to our community.”
Pippa Considine
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