Joyeux Noël

Screening on ABC 1 National Television on Sunday evening, 21 December is Joyeux Noël. The film depicts, through the eyes of French, British and German troops, the 1914 Christmas Truce on the Western Front.

The film was written and directed by Christian Carion and was nominated for Best Foreign Film at the 78^th Academy Awards.

Photo: Film Poster Joyeux Noël. Source: http://images.google.com/images

The Sydney Morning Herald’s review states: …..Yes, it’s sentimental but there are moments of unexpected humour and what happened afterwards is devastating. Music plays a central role in the story, from the gentle soundtrack to the performances of German opera singers….to the drone of Scots’ bagpipes and the troops singing Christmas carols.

*****

The Families and Friends of the First AIF thanks the Australian, UK and French governments for affording Australian and British soldiers – presently buried in mass graves at Pheasant Wood – dignified individual reburials in a new CWGC cemetery at Fromelles, and applauds Minister Snowdon and his British counterpart, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence and Minister for Veterans, Kevan Jones MP, for their joint decision to DNA test the remains at exhumation and use every reasonable method to attempt identification of each soldier.