Home by Christmas

“A classic New Zealand story, perfectly told.” – New Zealand Herald

On his way home from rugby practice, Ed Preston joined the New Zealand army. He promised his pregnant wife Tui he’d be home by Christmas – but four years would pass before his return, after escaping a prison camp in Italy.

A film memoir based on filmmaker Gaylene Preston’s interviews with her father about his World War II experiences, Home by Christmas weaves imagined drama with archival footage to tell a New Zealand wartime story from both her parents’ points of view.

“I grew up after the war and when I was a little girl it felt like there were always three times: there was ‘before the War’ and ‘after the War’ and there was another time that was almost like a secret place called ‘during the War’.” —MIFF