Story of X-mas tree
2004
Directed by Christian Twente
Customer: ZDF/FDF-E/ARTE and ORF
The subject of the film is the invention of the Christmas tree in the Alsace region, its spread throughout Europe and its broad acceptance around the globe. The story is told in a series of documentary anecdotes. Documentary side plots are added to the story like ornaments on the tree. Such adornment will include: the origins, tradition and creation of decorations for the tree; the origin of the custom of exchanging gifts under it and the birth of the Christmas legend and its world-renowned hymn “Silent Night”. The documentary style will be augmented now and again by stories about or including the Christmas tree as „pictorial documents“ (such as Christmas celebrations in the fox holes on World War I).
