Festive Foreign Film Fans

Festive Fans Unite! (send us a message) Join the Festive Fans for a little Pura Vida Christmas!  Tonight’s country runs on this magical motto.  After two years, we are finally making our way to Central America.  Our first stop?  We visit the beautiful, lush country of Costa Rica.  We promise that everything about it will bring a smile to your face, including our featured film from 2024, Paradise F...

Festive Fans Unite! (send us a message) The Festive Fans are on spring break, so we are veering off our main road to take  a new scenic route.  Instead of exploring a foreign country this episode, we are setting the way back machine 65 years to a magical time of those grand scale, over the top, larger than life films, with a literal army of extras and actors who don’t just act—they command the scr...

Festive Fans Unite! (send us a message) It’s time to grab all your ex-husbands and wives, strip down, and head for the sauna as Christmas is about to get messy.  The Festive Fans are traveling to the Christmas capital of the world this episode – Germany!  We are off to the original home to some of our most cherished holiday traditions.  Plus, as an extra bonus, we get to learn a lot about St. Mart...

Festive Fans Unite! (send us a message) A talking dog?  A racing turtle?  Pizza with ashes?  A one-eyed bald man? What does this all have to do with Christmas?   Find out this episode as we head out to one of the most biodiverse countries in the world to take on the Solar System or the Del Solar System.  From the Andes Mountains to the Amazon Rainforest, it is Christmas Eve in Peru -- a place with...

Festive Fans Unite! (send us a message) When a movie is titled “?”, what is it called?  Is it the symbol?  Is it the words “question mark”? Or, is it just the desire for knowledge and answers?  It is this and other questions that Festive Fans encounter on a visit to explore the rich vibrancy of the world’s largest island nation -- Indonesia.  We review a complicated film that has violence, anger,...

Festive Fans Unite! (send us a message) The Festive Fans are travelling this episode to a locale that is not known as being either festive or much of a Christmas fan, but it is the cradle of civilization. It is the birthplace of the first laws, written language, rich history and archaeological sites.  It is Iraq -- a country that the U.S. has been fighting for more than three decades.  However, li...

Festive Fans Unite! (send us a message) The Festive Fans get knocked down by the stunning beauty of Latvia but get up again to enjoy the infectious spirit and irresistible charm of the 2022 film Circenisa Ziemassvetki .  We travel to the Baltic region this episode to explore a place we knew little about beforehand, a fact but that was never going to keep us down.  Latvia is Eastern Europe's b...

Festive Fans Unite! (send us a message) 2025 kicks off in a big way with a big country. We travel this episode to one of the cradles of civilization.  It’s a place with a rich history and a diverse geography.  Considered to be one of the four exceptional civilizations, it has nearly 18% of the world population, spans the equivalent of five time zones, and borders fourteen countries.  We are explor...

Festive Fans Unite! (send us a message) Live from Crystal Lake, IL, It's Festive Foreign Film Fans!   Today's special holiday show is a recording of our first live show at Duke's Alehouse in Crystal Lake, IL.  We want to thank Mike and Rusty from the "Snow in Southtown" podcast for letting us use their Vista Blue song "Crystal Lake"!  It was a great crowd opener...

Festive Fans Unite! (send us a message) For this episode, we travel to the Middle East and the region which today is known as the Palestinian Territory. In the same way that Festive Fans covered Russia and Ukraine last December, we wanted to visit another area in need of hope during this holiday season.  Finding joy during times of war can be deeply challenging.  What is ironic is how the birthpla...

Festive Fans Unite! (send us a message) During this week of Thanksgiving, we are grateful to learn so much this episode, really, especially for a holiday week.  We are spending our Black Friday just basking in these hard truths.  After a vain search for a Colonial Christmas movie, we really learned what the Pilgrims thought about Yuletime festivities – that they should be banned.  Instead, we deci...

Festive Fans Unite! (send us a message) Greece is the word, is the word that you heard In honor of our good friend Liz Schuh, the Festive Fans visit the homeland and the cradle of Western civilization this episode.  We head to the Greek islands, past Athens and those incredible ancient Acropolis and Parthenon ruins, and onto the sun-drenched beaches, the piercing blue skies, and the balmy Aegean S...

Festive Fans Unite! (send us a message) The Festive Fans are getting steamy this episode, but not in the way you might think.  Unless you mean a penis panic.  The boys are off to the balmy island state of Singapore where the Christmas celebrations are full of warm memories, but mostly from the temperature.  This tropical country is over the top in its Yule-themed festivities, from the Orchard Road...

Festive Fans Unite! (send us a message) Slovenia is such an unexpected delight for the Festive Fans.  This episode’s movie is full of pleasant surprises – two young and engaging leads; a stunning, baroque cityscape; and an honest and moving story – it has everything any podcaster could ever want.  We laughed, we cried, we cheered, and that was just for our introduction.  If you are looking for a w...

Festive Fans Unite! (send us a message) This episode is a wistful look back to an earlier time in the welcoming country of Senegal, known as the “Gateway to Africa”.  We visit this westernmost point on the continent to view the 1994 film Ça Twiste à Poponguine .  The story is set in post-colonial Senegal, right after the tiny nation gained its independence. It is a challenging time for this remote...

Festive Fans Unite! (send us a message) If you want to enjoy a true Middle Eastern Christmas, one with diverse religions and languages, but also filled with historic, cultural, culinary and artistic delights, join the Fans as we head on a festive jaunt to amazing Lebanon.  This is a unique holiday location, with incredible natural beauty, that offers a little something for everyone -- ancient Roma...

Festive Fans Unite! (send us a message) How do you want to spend Christmas?  If you like to celebrate in a warm and colorful locale with incredible natural beauty, lush beaches, and a stunning rainforest, grab a holiday speedo or thong, because you are going to love this episode.  We heat it up by exploring the joys of Brazil.  We travel to the world’s fifth largest country and learn how they enjo...

Festive Fans Unite! (send us a message) Put on your Gjermundbu helmet, grab your tunic and don’t forget the woolen underwear. We are off the coolest country in Europe to explore their Christmas traditions during our dog days of summer. We are talking Norway, on the outskirts of Europe – the land of Vikings, reindeer, mountains, glaciers, and fjords. Is there anything better? Yes, Norway has the no...

Festive Fans Unite! (send us a message) G’day Mate!  We’re so stoked.  The Festive Fans are firing the barbie today for holiday tucker -- heaps of prawns and snags.  We’re putting on some cozies and thongs (well, Mark’s in a budgie smuggler) to enjoy our visit to Straya.  Beware the mozzies because it’s a summer celebration.  We’ll be going off, skulling a few frothies, getting some Macca’s, and m...

Festive Fans Unite! (send us a message) So it's Season 2.  We are older and wiser.  Or, with all the traditional food and drink from last season, maybe just older and wider.  We have a much broader view now and we are keeping our chins up ... all of them.  To kick off the season, we didn't want to rush into it with something simple or easy.  No Disney here.  We travel to Slovakia, the tw...

Festive Fans Unite! (send us a message) This episode is our longest and most special.  It is Part 2 of our anniversary show.  We welcome our first guest, author and podcaster Alonso Duralde; we pick our favorite global holiday songs and movies; and, most importantly, we enjoy and celebrate our podcast, and our listeners, and everything new this first year has taught us.  When we started, we were t...

Festive Fans Unite! (send us a message) One Year!  Wow, it seems like just last June we were in the street markets of Ancient Baghdad on a flying carpet with Aladin.  Or, trying to escape from the top of a burning tower in South Korea.  These films offered us a cinematic glimpse into the diverse traditions, customs, and ways of life for people in different places around the globe, and all in the n...

Festive Fans Unite! (send us a message) OK, Festive Fans, pour yourselves a Mai Thai and get ready for the last episode of our first season!  We are heading east – Far East – to Thailand, a captivating land of beaches, palaces, ruins, and temples.  It’s the perfect ending for a final holiday outing of Season 1 to shake our Christmas booties with the Buddhists and elephants. First, we review the fi...

Festive Fans Unite! (send us a message) The boys are going Dutch this episode and exploring Christmas in the land of tulips, windmills, and hole-y dykes.  Grab your wooden shoes, we are heading to the Netherlands for St. Nicholas Day!   We also examine a surprisingly dated film from 2007, Alles is Liefde , and discuss whether the same film could be made today.  It is another example of the subgenr...

Festive Fans Unite! (send us a message) In today’s episode, we enjoy Skenbart or “IIlusive Tracks” a black and white Swedish film set in 1945. It is a comedy, thriller, drama and love story, all wrapped up in one, along with those common elements you expect in a Christmas film – murder, adultery, and violence.  Plus, if you can believe it, it’s really, really funny.  Join the boys are we travel wi...