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When Bing Crosby sang "I'm dreaming of a White Christmas", he wasn't dreaming of the kind of White Christmas portrayed in this film. White Christmas is a fascinating look at Christmas - American-style - as celebrated in the Philippines. This is also a journey through childhood memories and adult reflections: snow and pine trees in a tropical country, a bearded Caucasian Santa Claus at home in the midst of an Asian culture, Nativity scenes in shopping malls and more neon decorations than one can imagine. Filmmaker Michael Magnaye says the Philippines were colonized by missionaries and filmmakers, so it has no problem reconciling spectacle with the sacred. Nowhere is this union more spectacular than in the month-long celebrations before Christmas.