Nativity! (2009)
Written & directed by Debbie Isitt. Starring Martin Freeman, Marc Wootton, Jason Watkins, Ashley Jensen, Pam Ferris, Alan Carr, Ricky Tomlinson, John Sessions and Clarke Peters.
Freeman plays Paul Maddens, a frustrated primary school teacher who once had dreams of acting glory, who attempts to put on a bigger and better Nativity play than the local protestant school,who's play is also directed by his former rival (Watkins). Aided by Mr. Poppy (Wotton), the childlike nephew of the school's headmistress (Ferris), Maddens organises a festive spectacular.
Despite the Isitt having credit as the film's writer, really she only game up with the structure of the story. The majority of the film was actually improvised, with the actors just being told what needed to happen within each scene. In total 120 hours of footage was shot during the six weeks of filming. Isitt then spent the next 10 months editing the movie in the back bedroom of her Coventry home with her partner and chief editor Nicky Ager.
Although it wouldn't make the same kind of money as you'd expect from an American Christmas movie, it did make a significant profit, making £8.5 million on a £2.5 million budget. It was also enough of a success that it was turned into a musical 2016, and also spawned three sequels Nativity 2: Danger in the Manger (2012), Nativity 3: Dude, Where's My Donkey (2014), and Nativity Rock! (2018).
Have you seen Nativity! or any of it's sequels? Which is the best entry in the franchise? Let us know in the comments below.