The clothing company Zara has taken the baton of the Santa Claus story, and boy, are they running with it. They’ve hired the talented director, Luca Guadagnino, who may be best known for his Oscar-winning film, Call Me By Your Name, to create their very own Christmas film called, O Night Divine. The 43-minute short film will bring viewers and listeners a special treat with music by composer, Alberto Iglesias, and starring John C. Reilly
Jolly Old St. Nicholas.
The musical short sees Reilly’s Santa Claus singing to a young girl in Italian. Joining Reilly in raising his voice is Alex Wolff (Hereditary), who appears as a vocalizing vagabond. Model and filmmaker Hailey Gates the pair, as well as a full cast including Samia Benazzouz, Chloe Park, Valerio Santucci, Francesca Figus, Tania Hanyoung Park, and Shi Yang Shi.
Guadagnino has kept very busy since Call Me By Your Name hit screens in 2017, having directed the Suspiria remake in 2018, and the 2020 HBO series, We Are Who We Are, as well as a short titled Fiori, Fiori, Fiori! Next up, the director plans to bring back one of his leading men from Call Me By Your Name, Timothée Chalamet, along with an incredibly talented lineup consisting of Jessica Harper, Chloë Sevigny, Francesca Scorsese, Taylor Russel, Mark Rylance, and André Holland for a film titled Bones & All.
The filmmaker’s upcoming projects don’t end there. Since Bones & All completed filming, he is rumored to be working on Brideshead Revisited for the BBC which would star Cate Blanchett, Andrew Garfield, Rooney Mara, and Ralph Fiennes. He is also planning to bring audiences a remake of both Scarface and Lord of the Flies. Guadagnino has also long discussed making a sequel to Call Me By Your Name.
While all of these projects are a bit off in the future, for now, we suggest that you check out Guadagnino’s Christmas short (which you can find below) while opening up presents or chomping down on some gingerbread.