NOЁLLE BABOUSHKA synopsis

LOGLINE A Russian grandmother gets a second chance to give Christmas gifts for the first time. PITCH When a Russian grandmother rejects the Christmas Wise Men, along with a pregnant Mary and Joseph, she is visited by the angel Gabriel who sends her on a mission across her country to bless children in repentance. Along her travels, she searches for the baby Jesus, but she is unable to find him. As she returns to her home in disappointment ready to die, King Jesus appears at her bedside and thanks her for her service to him. He whisks her to heaven in triumph. SYNOPSIS Many years ago in a small Russian town, Grandmother Noëlle Baboushka sweeps out the empty stable on her farm. She has heard that Wise Men have been roaming the countryside, looking for a star that would lead to a royal child. As the week goes on, the Wise Men have heard of Grandmother Baboushka’s farm and think they could spend the night. She tells them that she doesn’t know why they would want to stay with her and that she saw the Stars in the West. She says she has no gift for the royal baby. Then she closes the door and locks it tight, leaving the three kings in the blistering snow and cold in the Russian town. After the kings are long gone, a family arrives at her door, a pregnant mother on a donkey with her poor husband. They are fleeing to Egypt and have been traveling for days. They ask her if they can stay for the night. The man explains that his wife is pregnant, and he doesn’t want the baby that is due any day soon to die in the winter. The grandmother lies again, saying she has no room in her home or stable for the family. The next morning, the angel Gabriel appears at her bedside. A bright light surrounds the angel, and Grandmother Baboushka trembles on her knees, as if she knows her crime. The angel says that the royal baby has been born in Bethlehem in a stable. Since she refused kings trying to find him, and she sent his own mother away, the angel says she will now journey through Russia and beyond with a candle and place toys at the head of each child that she meets. The grandmother is warned to seek the Babe of Bethlehem while he still may be found on Christmas morning. Before she can say anything in her defense, the angel Gabriel disappears, and the bright light vanishes. Grandmother Baboushka sits still for a moment, and then weeps in sorrow for her selfishness and greed. She wonders if she can still find the royal baby, gathering her children’s old toys and candles in a knapsack. Night after night, on her way to Bethlehem, she stops by the homes of strangers to give gifts to their children. Although she is a generous woman, none of the people let her rest for the evening in their houses. She roams from place to place, never at peace. However, she does bless the Russian children with presents. After decades of wandering, still hoping to find Jesus, she returns home to her Russian farm, to die in disappointment. That night, in her sleep, she wakes to find the royal king, who is a tall, gentle man, standing at her bedside. He thanks her for every gift that she gave to a child—it was as if she gave the presents to Christ himself. Before Grandmother Baboushka could say anything, she is whisked away to heaven with a company of angels. Still to this day, the legend of Noëlle Baboushka, the Christmastime Grandmother and her gifts, lives on, warning those who forget to bless strangers in need, reminding them that Mary once birthed Jesus in a stable with Wise Men on Christmas Eve.

Copyright 2022 Jennifer Waters