Christmas, Again

Charles Poekel's 2015 American film follows Noel, who comes to New York every year to sell Christmas trees on the street. Arriving this year without his long-time girlfriend, he cannot do the one thing he knows how to do. He lives in a trailer, cannot sleep, and falls out with everyone around him. Before making the film, Poekel actually sold Christmas trees in New York for two seasons, which explains the realism of the detail. The story is almost entirely without incident: selling, waiting, not sleeping. Showing depression not as a crisis but as a constant background is its most honest quality. Shooting on sixteen millimetre gives the city at night a particular texture. Who it's for: viewers who like American independent cinema and character portraits without incident. Who it's not for: anyone wanting plot and resolution, or who will object to depression being left unresolved.