LOGLINE
A Russian grandmother gets a second chance to give Christmas gifts and gets so much in return.
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. Along her travels, she searches for the baby Jesus, but she is unable to find him. As she returns to her home in disappointment, King Jesus appears at her bedside and thanks her for her service to him. He whisks her to heaven in triumph.
SYNOPSIS
Once in a small Russian town, Grandmother Agata Baboushka sweeps out the empty stable on her farm. She has heard that three Wise Men have been roaming the countryside, in search of a star that leads to the birth of a royal child. The Wise Men learn 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, or maybe the East. She says she has no gifts for the coming baby king. Then, she closes the door, locks it tight, and leaves the three Wise Men and their camels in the blistering snow and cold in the Russian town. After the Three Wise Men are long gone, a family arrives at her door, a pregnant mother on a donkey with her poor husband. They are fleeing to Egypt by way of Bethlehem 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 cold. The grandmother lies and says that she has no room in her home or stable for the family.
A few weeks later, on Christmas 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 Jesus, the Son of the Most High God, has been born in Bethlehem in a stable. Since she refused the three Wise Men trying to find him, and she sent his own mother away, the angel says she will now journey to Bethlehem through Russia and beyond with a candle and place toys at the bedside of each child that she meets. The grandmother is warned to seek the Babe of Bethlehem while he still may be found. The angel says her new name is Noëlle. 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 baby Jesus and gathers her children’s old toys and candles from her cupboard in a knapsack.
Night after night, on her way to Bethlehem, she stops by the homes of strangers to give gifts to their children. Even still, none of them let her rest for the evening in their houses. She roams from place to place, never at peace. However, she does bless children with presents. Still hoping to find Jesus, after years of wandering, she returns home to her Russian farm, in disappointment. That night, in her sleep, she wakes to find King Jesus, still a child, 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 Jesus himself. Before Grandmother Baboushka could say anything, she is whisked away to heaven with a company of angels. 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
