“A bubbly and lovable protagonist whose journey toward becoming a professional Santa is impossible not to root for.”
— Awards Buzz
Awards Buzz reviewer Jonathan Friedtanzer called Charles Graves “a bubbly and lovable protagonist whose journey toward becoming a professional Santa is impossible not to root for.” The line traveled fast — it was picked up by Cinema Salem in their fall marketing, by Grand Illusion Cinema in Seattle, by Drexel Theatre’s Columbus run, and by the SIFF Cinema theatrical announcement.
Friedtanzer’s full review places the film firmly in the tradition of warmhearted American documentary character studies, comparing the access Graves provides to the families he meets — kids who, often for the first time, are getting a Santa they can sign with — to the broader cultural moment of children seeing themselves reflected on screen. The review credits directors Ben Shelton and Anthony Mowl for letting the story breathe: the camera spends real time with Charles, with his wife Kari, with their daughter Kalei, and with the working life of a man balancing his job at the Texas School for the Deaf with the demands of building a Deaf Santa Claus practice.
The blurb’s reach matters because Awards Buzz reviews tend to circulate during festival programming season — the Sedona International Film Festival, the Guild Cinema’s two-month theatrical run, and the George Eastman Museum special screening all booked the film during the window after the review went up. For the Deaf Santa Claus Foundation, the review marked the moment the film stopped being an AFF-circuit story and became a national-tour story.
