Christmas Carole

Christmas Carole is a 2024 French Christmas comedy film directed by Jeanne Gottesdiener in her feature directorial debut. Gottesdiener co-wrote the script with Julie Ponsonnet based on the 2022 PAGE Award Bronze winning English-language screenplay Nutcrackers by American author Chrissy Lessey. The film stars Noémie Lvovsky and Didier Bourdon in the lead roles. After screening at various film festivals, it is scheduled for wide theatrical release on 14 November 2024 in Germany and on 18 December 2024 in France, Belgium and French-speaking Switzerland.
The film, set mostly around a Christmas Eve dinner, revolves around the mayoress of a small town, Carole, played by Noémie Lvovsky, trying to juggle her municipal duties and family celebrations to little success.

Cast

Noémie Lvovsky as Carole Lamarre
Didier Bourdon as Alain Lamarre
Alice Daubelcour as Sarah Lamarre
as David Lamarre
Janaïna Halloy-Fokan as Noa Lamarre
as Balthazar
Marie Bunel as Laura, the neighbor
as Victor Fayol
as Marlène
Production

The film was shot in chronological order under the working title Noël au Balcon over the course of seven weeks, from 15 May to 30 June 2023 in the Wallonia region of Belgium, mainly between Limbourg and the Embourg area of Chaudfontaine, as well as in Hamoir and Liège, while the post-production was done concurrently in France.
Director Jeanne Gottesdiener took inspiration from several other French comedy films set mostly around a group of people in a single space, such as What's in a Name?, The Dinner Game, and Family Resemblances.

Release

Christmas Carole had its world premiere on 9 June 2024 at the Rabat-Comedy International Film Festival in Rabat, Morocco, followed by an out of competition screening on 15 June 2024 at the Porquerolles Film Festival in France. It is scheduled for theatrical release first in Germany on 14 November 2024 by Happy Entertainment under the title Frohes Fest – Weihnachten retten wir die Welt, and a month later on 18 December 2024 in France by, as well as Belgium and French-speaking Switzerland. International sales are handled by France TV Distribution, who launched sales during the 2023 Marché du Film while the film was still shooting, and hosted the first film market screenings in mid-January 2024.

Accolades