Christmas movies are not only about snowy American suburbs, New York department stores and Santa flying over Manhattan.
Around the world, filmmakers have created their own Christmas stories—drawing inspiration from local traditions, winter folklore, family celebrations and different versions of Santa Claus.
In Finland, we can discover how a boy named Nikolas might have become Santa.
In Italy, children wait for La Befana, the legendary Christmas witch.
In Norway, a girl searches for the magical Christmas Star.
In the Philippines, Christmas magic meets the unmistakable warmth of Paskong Pinoy.
And in Brazil, Christmas happens in summer.
For Santa Around the World, we've chosen 10 Christmas movies that show just how different—and how wonderfully familiar—Christmas can feel around the globe.
These aren't simply the biggest Hollywood Christmas movies. They're films that let us travel somewhere different for Christmas without leaving the sofa.
10. 🇬🇧 United Kingdom - Nativity! – 2009 🎭🎄
Every parent knows that a school Christmas performance can become slightly chaotic.
In Nativity!, it becomes completely chaotic.
Primary-school teacher Paul Maddens is given the difficult task of directing his school's Christmas nativity play.
Then he makes one enormous mistake.
He claims that Hollywood producers are coming to watch it.
The rumor quickly spreads, expectations grow, and suddenly an ordinary school Christmas play is expected to become the greatest nativity production anyone has ever seen.
The 2009 British Christmas comedy was directed by Debbie Isitt and stars Martin Freeman.
🌍 What makes it British?
School Christmas plays are an important December tradition for many British families.
Instead of Santa's workshop or reindeer, Nativity! captures Christmas through children, teachers, school halls, family expectations and a wonderfully chaotic Christmas performance. ** 🎅 Is Santa in it?**
Santa isn't the main attraction.
The Christmas Nativity—and everything that can possibly go wrong while producing it—is the focus.
👨👩👧 Best for
Families with school-age children and anyone who enjoys British comedy.
🎄 Christmas Around the World Fact
Nativity plays based on the Christmas story remain a familiar part of the festive season in many British primary schools.
9. 🇧🇷 Brazil - Just Another Christmas – 2020 ☀️🎄
Forget snow.
Christmas in Brazil happens during the Southern Hemisphere summer.
Just Another Christmas follows Jorge, a family man who doesn't particularly enjoy Christmas.
Then something very strange happens.
He wakes up and discovers that another entire year has passed.
And it's Christmas again.
Then it happens again.
And again.
Jorge is forced to experience Christmas after Christmas while losing everything that happened during the rest of each year.
Netflix describes the Brazilian film as a Christmas time-loop comedy in which Jorge gradually learns what's actually important in life.
🌍 What makes it Brazilian?
The filmmakers deliberately wanted to show a Brazilian Christmas rather than simply copying snowy North American Christmas-movie traditions. Netflix's Brazilian announcement specifically described the movie as showing Brazilian holiday traditions.
🎅 Is Santa in it?
Santa isn't the main character.
Family Christmas celebrations are.
👨👩👧 Best for
Teens and adults rather than very young children.
Ratings differ by market, so parents should check the local rating before choosing it for family viewing.
🎄 Christmas Around the World Fact
Christmas arrives in the middle of summer in Brazil, making swimming pools, warm evenings and outdoor celebrations perfectly normal parts of the holiday season.
8. 🇮🇹 Italy - The Legend of the Christmas Witch – 2018 🧹🎁
Santa Claus isn't the only magical person delivering presents during the Christmas season.
Meet La Befana.
According to Italian tradition, Befana is an elderly woman associated with Epiphany who brings gifts to children in early January.
The Legend of the Christmas Witch—originally La Befana vien di notte—turns that famous Italian character into the star of a family fantasy adventure.
During the day, Paola appears to be an ordinary schoolteacher.
At night, she transforms into the legendary Befana.
But shortly before Epiphany, she is kidnapped by a mysterious toy maker—and a group of her students sets out to rescue her.
🌍 What makes it Italian?
Rather than using Santa Claus as its magical gift-giver, the movie builds its story around one of Italy's most distinctive holiday legends.
🎅 Is Santa in it?
Not really.
La Befana is the star.
And that's exactly why this movie belongs on Santa Around the World.
👨👩👧 Best for
Families and children who enjoy fantasy adventures.
Netflix Italy lists the film among its children's and family titles.
🎄 Christmas Around the World Fact
Italian children traditionally associate La Befana with the night before Epiphany on January 6, when she is said to leave treats or gifts.
7. 🇯🇵 Japan - Tokyo Godfathers – 2003 🎄🏙️
Christmas in Japan looks very different from the North Pole.
And Tokyo Godfathers is very different from a typical Santa movie.
On Christmas Eve in Tokyo, three homeless people discover an abandoned baby.
They decide to search for the child's parents.
That seemingly simple mission sends them on an extraordinary journey across the city, where a series of coincidences forces each character to confront parts of their own past.
Sony describes the film as the story of three homeless people whose lives change after finding a baby on Christmas Eve in Tokyo.
🌍 What makes it Japanese?
Instead of treating Christmas as a traditional Western family holiday, the movie places Christmas Eve in modern Tokyo and uses the city's streets, people and urban life as its setting.
🎅 Is Santa in it?
No traditional Santa.
But coincidence, compassion and unexpected acts of kindness provide the Christmas magic.
👨👩👧 Best for
Older children, teenagers and adults.
The film carries a PG-13 rating in the United States, so it isn't one of our recommendations for very young children.
🎄 Christmas Around the World Fact
Christmas in Japan has developed largely as a secular celebration, with Christmas Eve especially associated with lights, entertainment, couples and seasonal food rather than being a national religious holiday.
6. 🇫🇷 France - Santa & Cie – 2017 🎅🇫🇷
What happens if all Santa's elves suddenly become sick?
That's the disaster facing Santa in the French Christmas comedy Santa & Cie.
Just before Christmas, 92,000 elves responsible for producing presents fall ill.
Santa has no choice.
He leaves his workshop, travels to the human world and begins searching for a cure that might save Christmas.
Unfortunately, dealing with ordinary humans isn't always easy—even if you're Père Noël.
🌍 What makes it French?
This is a wonderfully different, slightly eccentric French interpretation of Santa Claus.
Instead of treating Santa as an untouchable Christmas legend, the movie sends him into everyday human situations and lets the comedy begin.
🎅 What is Santa like?
Colorful, strange, determined and slightly bewildered by the modern world.
French actor and filmmaker Alain Chabat wrote, directed and stars in the film.
👨👩👧 Best for
Families and children who enjoy energetic Christmas comedies.
French movie source AlloCiné lists it as suitable from around age six.
🎄 Christmas Around the World Fact
In France, Santa Claus is commonly known as Père Noël—literally “Father Christmas.”
5. 🇵🇭 Philippines - Puso ng Pasko – 1998 ⭐🎄🇵🇭
The Philippines has one of the world's most enthusiastic Christmas cultures.
So our international Christmas movie journey absolutely needs a Filipino stop.
Puso ng Pasko—which means Heart of Christmas—is a Filipino Christmas fantasy about children, wishes, family and Christmas magic.
Christopher believes his family suffers from terrible luck.
Then a mischievous Christmas elf appears and gives Christopher and his siblings the possibility of making a wish.
Naturally, wishes don't always work out exactly as expected.
🌍 What makes it Filipino?
The heart of the story is family.
And that makes it feel very Paskong Pinoy.
The film was released in 1998 and was an official entry in the Metro Manila Film Festival, a Philippine cinema tradition closely connected with the Christmas season.
🎅 Is Santa in it?
The movie has Christmas magic, but the story isn't built around a traditional Western Santa Claus.
Instead, it creates its own Filipino Christmas fantasy.
👨👩👧 Best for
Filipino families, nostalgic viewers and anyone curious about Christmas cinema from the Philippines.
🎄 Christmas Around the World Fact
The Philippines begins getting into the Christmas spirit exceptionally early. The “Ber months”—September, October, November and December—are widely associated with the beginning and buildup of the Christmas season.
4. 🇧🇪🇳🇱 Belgium & the Netherlands - The Claus Family – 2020 🎅🔮
Jules Claus doesn't like Christmas.
And he has a very good reason.
After losing his father, Christmas only reminds him of what his family has lost.
Then Jules begins spending time in his grandfather's toy shop.
There he discovers a mysterious magical snow globe.
And eventually an even bigger secret.
His grandfather is Santa Claus.
When Grandpa Claus becomes ill, Jules discovers that Christmas depends on him.
Netflix announced The Claus Family as its first Dutch-Flemish Christmas film and describes Jules discovering that his grandfather is the real Santa and that the responsibility has been passed through their family for generations.
🌍 What makes it different?
This is Santa Claus viewed through a Dutch-Flemish family story.
It mixes the familiar global Santa legend with European settings, family relationships and a magical inheritance.
🎅 What is Santa like?
Santa Claus isn't simply one immortal man.
Being Santa is a family responsibility.
👨👩👧 Best for
Children and families.
Netflix categorizes it as a kids-and-family movie.
🎄 Christmas Around the World Fact
The Low Countries also have another famous winter gift-giver: Sinterklaas, whose traditions helped influence the development of the modern Santa Claus legend.
3. 🇨🇿🇩🇪 Czech Republic & Germany - Three Wishes for Cinderella – 1973 👸❄️
Here's an unusual entry.
Three Wishes for Cinderella isn't really a Christmas movie at all.
There is no Santa Claus.
No Christmas Eve present delivery.
And Christmas isn't the main subject of the story.
Yet for millions of Europeans, watching it has become part of Christmas.
The 1973 Czechoslovak-East German fairy-tale film retells Cinderella against beautiful snowy landscapes and castles.
This Cinderella is also rather different from many traditional versions.
She rides horses, shoots, outsmarts the prince and takes a much more active role in determining her own future.
🌍 Why is it on a Christmas list?
Because sometimes the tradition of watching a movie becomes more important than whether the story itself is about Christmas.
The film has long been associated with Christmas television viewing across several European countries, particularly Norway, Germany and Czechia.
🎅 Is Santa in it?
No.
This one is pure winter fairy tale.
👨👩👧 Best for
Families, fairy-tale fans and anyone who loves snowy European castles.
🎄 Christmas Around the World Fact
Many countries have movies or television programs that families watch every Christmas even though the stories themselves aren't necessarily about Christmas.
Christmas traditions aren't only about food and decorations.
Sometimes they're about what's on television.
2. 🇳🇴 Norway - Journey to the Christmas Star – 2012 ⭐❄️
Deep in a magical winter kingdom, a terrible sadness has fallen over the land.
The king's daughter disappeared while searching for the Christmas Star.
The king cursed the star—and darkness followed.
Years later, a brave girl named Sonja decides to search for the Christmas Star and restore hope to the kingdom.
The Norwegian film Reisen til julestjernen—Journey to the Christmas Star—was released in 2012 and directed by Nils Gaup.
It is based on a Norwegian Christmas story that dates back to a 1924 stage play.
🌍 What makes it Norwegian?
Snowy landscapes.
Dark forests.
Kings.
Witches.
Christmas magic.
And the mysterious Christmas Star.
It feels much more like a Scandinavian winter fairy tale than a Hollywood Christmas comedy.
🎅 Is Santa in it?
Versions of Father Christmas and Christmas folk characters appear, but Sonja and the Christmas Star are at the center of the story.
👨👩👧 Best for
Families and children who enjoy fairy tales and fantasy.
Norwegian film source Filmweb lists the film as permitted for all ages while noting a few mildly threatening or dramatic scenes.
🎄 Christmas Around the World Fact
Journey to the Christmas Star has deep roots in Norwegian Christmas culture. The earlier 1976 film version became a Christmas television tradition, with Norway's NRK broadcasting it on Christmas Eve for many years.
1. 🇫🇮 Finland - Christmas Story – Joulutarina – 2007 🎅❄️❤️
Where did Santa Claus come from?
Finland's Christmas Story gives us its own beautiful answer.
The movie begins with a boy named Nikolas living in Finnish Lapland.
After tragedy leaves him orphaned, the families of his village agree to care for him.
Nikolas moves from family to family, and each Christmas he creates small handmade gifts for the children who have become part of his life.
Year after year, the tradition grows.
And slowly...
Nikolas begins becoming someone very familiar.
Santa Claus.
Finland's national audiovisual archive describes the 2007 film Joulutarina as the story of how the orphan Nikolas grew up to become Santa Claus.
🌍 What makes it Finnish?
Few countries are more closely associated with the modern Santa legend than Finland.
The movie surrounds Santa's origin story with snow-covered forests, wooden homes, traditional craftsmanship and spectacular Lapland scenery.
Finland's official country site also highlights the movie as a story exploring Santa's life and background.
🎅 What is Santa like?
This isn't Santa as a magical superhero.
Nikolas begins as an ordinary boy who discovers happiness through making things for other people.
That is what makes the transformation so effective.
👨👩👧 Best for
Families and older children.
There are sad events early in the story, so very young or sensitive children may find parts emotional.
🎄 Christmas Around the World Fact
Finnish Santa Claus is known as Joulupukki.
And modern Finnish Santa tradition places his home in Lapland, in Finland's far north.
For a website called Santa Around the World, it's difficult to imagine a more appropriate international Christmas movie.
🌍 Our Christmas Movie Journey Around the World
🇬🇧 United Kingdom — Nativity! 🎭 School Christmas chaos
🇧🇷 Brazil — Just Another Christmas ☀️ Christmas without the snow
🇮🇹 Italy — The Legend of the Christmas Witch 🧹 Meet La Befana
🇯🇵 Japan — Tokyo Godfathers 🏙️ Christmas Eve in Tokyo
🇫🇷 France — Santa & Cie 🎅 A very French Père Noël
🇵🇭 Philippines — Puso ng Pasko ⭐ Filipino Christmas magic
🇧🇪🇳🇱 Belgium & Netherlands — The Claus Family 🔮 Santa becomes a family secret
🇨🇿🇩🇪 Czech Republic & Germany — Three Wishes for Cinderella 👸 A European Christmas TV tradition
🇳🇴 Norway — Journey to the Christmas Star ⭐ Scandinavian Christmas fairy tale
🇫🇮 Finland — Christmas Story 🎅 The story of how Nikolas became Santa
🎄 Christmas Movies Are Christmas Traditions Too
Food changes from country to country.
Christmas decorations change.
The weather changes.
Santa's name changes.
Even the date when presents arrive can change.
But one surprisingly universal Christmas tradition is sitting down together to watch something special.
In America, it might be Home Alone.
In Norway, families might return to an old Christmas fairy tale.
In parts of Central Europe, Cinderella rides through the snow every December.
In Italy, the holiday season continues toward the arrival of La Befana.
And in the Philippines, Christmas cinema becomes part of a celebration that begins long before December 25.
Movies become traditions because families watch them together.
And once a movie becomes part of someone's childhood Christmas, it can stay there for the rest of their life.
🎅 Which Country Should We Visit Next?
Have you watched any of these Christmas movies?
Maybe your country has a Christmas movie that everyone watches every year.
We'd love to hear about it.
🎄 Tell us your country and the Christmas movie your family loves most.
Perhaps we'll add it to our next Christmas journey around the world.
