So, dearest audience, we’re sure you’ve been waiting for this, haven’t you? Here it is, the traditional von Bartha Christmas editorial, this time with Christmas movies – some unconventional, some classics, some thrilling, and some unknown – selected by the von Bartha Team. From super creepy to complete family madness, and even a popular fish in the mix, we’re sure you’ll all get some ideas for your upcoming holiday in front of the telly. Enjoy!

“Ein Klavier, Ein Klavier” 

To have a favorite film which you watch every Christmas is not familiar to me.
I’m looking forward to another tradition; decorating my giant X-mas tree.
This has become a lovely mother & son project, and to unpack hundreds of mini-objects is always fun. There are plenty of unchristmassy and crazy pieces like crocodiles and garlics made of sheet metal which is pure kitsch but also ancient toyhorses and traditional (beautiful) Swedish ornaments. It takes hours but the result is stunning!
If I should pick a film, it would certainly be Loriot’s „Ein Klavier, ein Klavier” (Engl: a piano, a piano). It is so witty that you could watch this stuffy family for hours. If you haven’t seen it – please do!

Suggested by Margareta von Bartha

“Zero, with your nose so bright, Won’t you guide my sleigh tonight?” 

My favorite film is “The Nightmare Before Christmas.” Everything just works in this film—the storyline, the characters, the music. Edward Scissorhands was my first introduction to Tim Burton’s style, and it’s been a love story ever since (also with Johnny Depp).
Burton wrote the poem in 1982, which he eventually turned into a film over a decade later, and if you have a moment, it is worth a read. The rhythm and wit remind me of one of my favourite poets, Shel Silverstein, who also wrote for young and old. The Nightmare Before Christmas is the ideal family movie to get even the grumpiest grinch in the mood for the festive season.” (How to watch? Stream on Disney+)

Suggested by Caroline Baumhauer

“On peut être extrêmement vulgaire sans dire un seul gros mot”
(“You can be extremely vulgar without saying a single swear word”.)

This is a french film by Cédric Klapisch from 1996 and it can be translated into ‘Family Resemblances’ or ‘Typisch Familie!’ When you think of Christmas, you think of family. It’s not about Christmas here, but birthday presents and, above all, truths are unwrapped – tragicomic!
You can watch the movie here.

Suggested by Julia Paas

“You’re really weird, you know that.”

My movie recommendation for the holidays is Terrifier 3. It’s sick, but the villain is bizarrely funny. It’s an atypical Christmas movie, but it’s set precisely at this time of year. So it’s not for the faint-hearted, and you might want to take your vomit bag with you…
(If you don’t like horror, please be careful with this movie.) This movie is currently playing in theaters. 

Suggested by Linda Palazzo

“Joe, you have a choice: your mother or me!”

There are special characters in every family, and Christmas is when everyone gets a bit more emotional, things escalate, and specific quirks emerge even more. This film takes this fact so lovingly and with such a fine sense of humor that watching it with family and friends is great fun. But beware, the people you invite to see this movie with you must have the capacity for self-irony, as I’m sure everybody will discover parallels to their family members or themselves.  With this recommendation, I wish everyone a joyful holiday. Don’t take the whole Christmas thing too seriously; have fun together and hug your loved ones.
(Honestly, I don’t have the words to describe how much I love this movie. I must have watched it over twenty times, and my family and I quote it all year round. Available on YouTube and sometimes also late at night on regular TV, unfortunately only in German.) 

Suggested by Daniela Tauber

“Just keep on swimming” (Dory) 

Every Christmas, my mother went all out to make the day scream “Christmas!” Cookies were baked to perfection, the house smelled like a cinnamon-orange candle factory, and the tree looked like it was plucked straight from Rockefeller Center in New York City. The cozy vibe she worked so hard to create? It was totally wrecked by my sister and me, the world’s biggest Finding Nemo fans.
Every year, we had to stage a mini courtroom drama to convince her to watch the movie. Again. For the millionth time. And every year, she reluctantly agreed while muttering about how “Christmas spirit” didn’t include animated clownfish. Fast forward a few years, she’s now the one asking, “When are we watching Finding Nemo?” It turns out that she can’t escape the magic of Dory forgetting everything and Nemo finding his way back home. Some traditions stick—like glitter on Christmas decorations. (Can also be streamed on Disney+)

Suggested by Idil Mercan

“I’ll be hanging around the mistletoe, hoping to be kissed.” (Mia, Love Actually) 

My favourite Christmas film is Love Actually – not because it is very British, not because it has a cast of incredible actors – but because it takes you on a rollercoaster of emotions full of love and laughs including embarrassing social moments, and equally awkward glittery kitsch and Christmas-themed jumpers. (Viewable on Netflix)

Suggested by Claire Gould

“Inside a snowflake like the one on your sleeve, there happened a story you must see to believe.” 

Yes, the Grinch hated Christmas
The whole Christmas season
Now, please don’t ask why
No one quite knows the reason

It could be his head wasn’t screwed on just right
It could be perhaps that his shoes were too tight
But I think the most likely reason of all
may have been that his heart was two sizes too small

(Watch the trailer here.) Suggested by Claudio Vogt

“I am only resolved to act in a manner which will constitute my own happiness without reference to you or any person so wholly unconnected with me.”

My Christmas consists of a lot of memorabilia: movies I have watched over and over again, and I could list all the good stuff from “The Neverending Story”, to “The Goonies”, “Little Women”, and of course all the Indiana Jones movies and more. But the one that definitely stands out is the endless afternoons of watching Pride and Prejudice (a six hour long pleasure) with my mother and sister on any long vacation. Of course we had to watch it in English, as we only had that huge VHS box, and it took several years for my sister and me to really understand what was going on in those endless conversations, but the music, the costumes (you have to be a period drama fan), the unbelievable amount of talking around the bushes, has made its impression on me and I look forward to diving into Mrs. Bennet’s outcries already.

Suggested by Hester Koper