Navidad de Reserva

The team behind Navidad de Reserva is made up of women, non binary, diverse ethnicities and nationalities. It is our goal to create sets that employ historically marginalized groups in the Film Industry, as it is our goal to create stories that twist the narrative on immigration and racial issues.

'Navidad de Reserva' is a working-class-tale about nostalgia, sadness and the funny things you can find to keep yourself alive when in tragedy. This is not Florencia's first holiday away from her family and friends, and although she has a partner and friends in the U.S, it never feels like home.
This film frames Florencia's struggle to fit into a different society, while raising the children of the upper class and living through other people's Christmas'/holidays.

*Frame from Prelight - not color graded

This story was written directly from my own experience as an immigrant.
One of the things I'd have never imagined when I became an immigrant, was that I was never going to feel home, ever again.
The more I tried to connect with my new country, the more isolated I became.
The process to get legal status stretched for years, taking a toll on my mental health.
I was not to leave the state or the country, and I couldn't drive or work. My life was centered in some paper that would allow me to be recognised as a Legal person with human rights. For these reasons and more, I developed severe anxiety and of course, I didn't have access to Health Insurance. There were points in my life in which I wondered why I was putting myself through such torture. But it was too late to step back.
Right around then, I noticed that neither my family, who I haven't seen physically in almost 4 years, or my husband (who I live with) could really understand what I was going through.
I decided to write a film that would capture the feelings of isolation, sadness, nostalgia for things you don't quite remember but can't let go.
To me, it's been almost 4 years without hugging my mum.

Imagine a person that has been in this situation for 8 years.

Now, make it 10, 15, 20 years.

Imagine that your mum passes away and not even then you are to leave the country.

Imagine that you spent your whole life not able to get home for Christmas Eve, or Hannukah, or the Solstice.

This is the story of hundreds, thousands and millions of earthlings displaced around the world.

When the pandemic started, I'd hear from everybody around me that they were going through episodes of isolation and anxiety, that they didn't know what to do with their time and most of all: that they were terrified of losing a loved one without being able to say goodbye.
I'd think to myself 'Man, if you only knew immigrants go through this on a daily basis' - but people don't really know about this. This is why I think that NOW is the best time to tell this story.
People, no matter their legal status, will relate to this story of an immigrant without having the judging element, because everybody knows what isolation feels like and nobody would want to live in these conditions for 10, 20 years, your entire life.

We believe that no Earthling is illegal and we want to see these stories, not only of success but failure, isolation and ultimately, hope.

The funds donated by you will go directly into our current budget. We aim to pay to every member of our crew, that they are not only professionals and the best at what they do, but they are connected to the story and bring their own vision, making this film a collective experience.

Film days are long. Sometimes we can be working up to 14 hours and we want to make sure all of the crew members leave set fairly compensated.

We will also be investing the funds collected into our Production Design, as this is a Christmas Film and the locations have to be decorated as such. Between lights and tinsel, it adds up quickly.

And as you might know, for long working hours we need to be well fed.
A part of the money collected in here will go directly into Craft Services, so we can fuel our bodies and work precisely. We are going to be working night time hours, outside, in the middle of December! We can't imagine what we would do without our beloved Craft Services team.

'Navidad de Reserva' is made possible thanks to Couch Film Collective and their program 'Script to Screen'.
In 2020, Roberta and her script (then named) 'Noche de Paz' were the winners of a $5500 grant provided by the Collective and RACC.
Since then, the Collective has linked the project to Funnel Box and Koerner Camera, whom have donated part of the gear we are using for the film, and this project would not be happening without their support.