Jacob Ley’s Christmas tale Get Santa has enchanted reviewers from Australia to France, the UK and Denmark. The film opens this Friday in Norway and Sweden.

For his first feature length animation film, 40-year old Ley who graduated from the National Film School of Denmark in 2006 has used a mix of 2D and 3D animation to bring to world screens a Christmas fairy tale with complex characters, deeply rooted in the Nordic tradition.

Set in an orphanage in the 1930s, the main character, eight-year-old Julius is an outsider who secretly believes in Santa Claus. When he is confronted with the fact that Santa Claus may just be the headmaster of the orphanage dressing up, Julius loses not only his belief in Santa, but also the belief in himself. But then something strange happens, and suddenly Julius finds himself in a magic world.

“I wanted to make a Christmas film that enables us to rediscover the joys of the old traditions, a film that illustrates that there is value in maintaining your childhood beliefs,” said the director. The film produced by the award-winning Copenhagen Bombay (The Great Bear, Beyond Beyond) opened first in Australia and New Zealand on October 6 via Universal Pictures. The next territory to open was the UK (Signature Entertainment) on October 30, followed by Denmark (Copenhagen Bombay Distribution) on November 10 and France (Les Films du Préau) on November 23.

Scandinavian releases 
According to Copenhagen Bombay’s Malene Iversen, Head of International Sales and Distribution, the film is playing mostly in independent cinemas in Denmark, with a few bookings in major cinema circuits (CinemaxX, Nordisk Film Theatre). The production company created a short ‘behind the screen’ featurette to promote it in the cinemas and as advertising. Admissions so far remain modest (3,000).

In Norway, KontxtFilm is going out with 46 screens, with bookings in Nordisk Film and SF Kino multiplexes in the major cities. Due to heavy competition from other family films (Carpenter Andersen, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, and Pettson & Findus: the Best Christmas Ever), access to smaller cinemas (3 screens or less) was difficult according to the Norwegian distributor. 

Marketing combined a strong social media campaign on Facebook, trailering, and KontxtFilm acquired rights to a famous Norwegian Advent poem, using it with the slogan ‘the Advent Movie this year’.

In Sweden, Folkets Bio has booked 28 screens for the film’s national release. The film is playing mostly in independent cinemas, plus Folkets Hus, Folkets Bio and Svenska Bio circuits. Another 20 prints are lined up for the second week, depending on the opening figures. The marketing campaign combined posters, trailers and promotional materials available in all cinemas, social media, printed press and web advertising.
Get Santa will then open on December 7 in Belgium (Jekino) and The Netherlands (Twin Film). 

See gallery for posters from UK, Denmark, Sweden and Norway.