Hanukkah film: History and Key Facts

A Hanukkah film is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on the celebration of the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah. Films in this style may incorporate the religious aspects of Hanukkah, such as lighting the menorah or the story of the Maccabees, along with cultural aspects of Hanukkah, such as spinning dreidels, or eating traditional foods such as latkes, sufganiyot, or gelt.

The Hanukkah film genre, such as it exists, is a reflection of the prevalence of Christmas films, as the two holidays are celebrated during a similar time of year. The most well known films of the genre tend to feature Christmas themed iconography and themes, and are often marketed to Christian audiences to be watched as a Christmas movie. This can be evidenced by the movie poster for Eight Crazy Nights which prominently features a Christmas tree, a reindeer, red and green Christmas lights and the tag line "The ultimate battle between naughty and nice", a reference to Santa's list.

Hanukkah has historically been more commonly portrayed in television, than in film, due to the relative lower financial risk and cost of production as compared to a feature film and minor importance of Hanukkah as a Jewish holiday.

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