A few years back I stumbled across a film called SAINT (or as it known in the Netherlands, SINT). First of all, you have to understand that the Europeans often have very strange thoughts on holiday characters. Just look at RARE EXPORTS. This 2010 Dutch film is about Sinterklaas, who is a little bit like Santa Claus except he has blades on his staff and he comes in the middle of night to murder people. The tradition dates back to 1492 when a corrupt Bishop was killed. The people in the town don't realize the history of the celebration and so they dressed as Sinterklaas and his army of murderous ghosts known as the Black Peter.

I chose to talk about RARE EXPORTS: A CHRISTMAS TALE, a Finnish fantasy-horror-comedy directed by Jalmari Helander. This feature-length film is inspired by his 8 minute short RARE EXPORTS INC. from 2003. One of the main things I just love is the juxtaposition of the colors being bright while the aesthetic and humor is dark.