Directed by Benjamin Nicolas | 11 mins | 2021
While the opening of this Expressionistic short film—depicting a perfunctory exchange between a rideshare driver and his passenger about Christmas shopping—gives little indication as to the direction it’s headed in, then the ominous title is rather mo...

Directed by Miguel Gomes | 22 mins | 2000
In this early work by the beloved and formally daring Portuguese auteur, the portrayal of a multi-generational Yuletide family gathering gives way to documentation of the season’s chintzy and charming accouterments: tinsel twinkles, baubles bob, and a Spi...

Directed by Lev Kalman and Whitney Horn | 9 mins | 2007
The decadent gathering of this early Kalman and Horn short does not take place on Christmas but rather New Year's Eve, 1927, nor does it feature any jazz proper—but it does have characters performing a riff on The Strokes’ “New York City Cop...

Directed by Georges Méliès | 4 mins | 1901
The night before Christmas, as only the original purveyor of “movie magic” could envision it. Made as Méliès was approaching the peak of his popularity, this mini-fantasia presents an array of still-captivating tableaux: while children sleep, dolls pranc...

Directed by Ryan Trecartin | 7 mins | 2001
A Valentine’s Day-obsessed girl is gagged, bound, and subjected to a crazed, tinsel-strewn celebration of Christmas—a rival holiday!—in this gleefully frenetic early short from visionary video artist Trecartin, which stars his long-time collaborator Lizz...