La befana vien di notte: Le origini: Italian children’s film about an orphan girl who finds her destiny as a Christmas witch.
Plot and background
The orphan girl Paola (Zoe Massenti) does not yet know herself what magical powers she possesses. Instead, she likes to break the law and roam around on heists. She is finally caught red-handed by the wicked witch hunter Baron de Michelis (Alessandro Haber) when he steals the golden Madonna. But Paola is saved at the last moment. A mysterious woman on a flying broom grabs the young girl and takes her in. The witch Dolores (Monica Belucci) already has many children in her care whose parents are persecuted as alleged witches. But loner Paola is sceptical about the newly won family. When she recognises Dolore’s witchcraft, however, she wants to stay and make use of this magic herself in a devious way. Before Paola knows it, she takes the colourful patchwork family to her heart, but their rapacity and treacherous intentions prove to be the young girl’s undoing.
Eventually Paola realises the danger she has put her newfound family in. Only by accessing her magical abilities and becoming a Christmas witch, as fate has ordained, can Paola defeat the witch hunter and save her siblings.
“The Legend of the Christmas Witch” – background, cast, cinema release
The popular character from Italy returns to the big screen in the prequel to the 2019 Christmas hit “Our Teacher the Christmas Witch”. “The Legend of the Christmas Witch” tells the back story of Paola and shows how the young orphan girl became a witch.
Unlike in many other countries, in Italy it is not only Father Christmas who is responsible for the giving of presents. According to Italian legend, the Christmas witch Befana brings presents for the good and punishments for the bad children on the night of 5 to 6 January. Director Paola Randi (“Tito, the Professor and the Aliens”) brings the story of the Christmas witch to the screen. The young Paola is embodied by Zoe Massenti. Famous Italian actress Monica Belucci (“James Bond 007: Spectre”) stars as the good witch Dolores.
You can see “The Legend of the Christmas Witch” in the cinema from 10 November 2022.
