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A new Christmas film shot in Winnipeg and directed by The Chosen's Dallas Jenkins will hit theatres nationwide this week.
Based on the international bestseller by Barbara Robinson, The Best Christmas Pageant Ever follows six siblings, the Herdmans, who sneak into church searching for snacks and walk away with the lead roles in the town pageant.
The siblings are considered bullies in their town, and Grace is directing the performance for the first time.
She and her daughter Beth (Molly Belle Wright) and husband Bob (Pete Holmes) are in over their heads, especially against a town that wants them to kick the Herdmans out.
However, the film shows viewers how the mischievous stars unwittingly teach a community the true meaning of Christmas.
Dallas Jenkins hopes the audience will take away the same thing from this film that he took away from reading the book 20 years ago.
"It's comedy. It's fun. It's hopefully a Christmas classic, but at the heart of this story, this is a Jesus story," said Jenkins. "The last words of the book are the last words of the movie, 'Unto you, a child is born, ' and the amazing consequences and rewards of that are, that you want to live out the story of Jesus. You want to take the gift that he gave and give it to others. You want to treat people better. You want to understand and appreciate the story more for yourself. When you fully understand that, it changes your life."
Kevin Downes,the film's producer, says he had a blast filming the movie in Winnipeg.
"My favourite memory was the weather, of course," said Downes. "The coldest day was minus 40. I didn't know it got that cold. People in Winnipeg just brush it off, like it's just another day at the beach for them. I am really in awe of how you guys handle the weather."
The Best Christmas Pageant Ever will hit theatres on Nov. 8, 2024.