Märklin: Connecting Generations

This sentimental Christmas film for Märklin, a model train brand, will have you sobbing into a miniature hanky.

The heavily nostalgic film was directed by Eugen Merher, a final year student at Film Akademie Baden-Württemberg and former YDA winner, who we previously wrote about here. It tells the story of an elderly stationmaster, who spends his days shovelling snow and carrying out repairs while he counts down the days to Christmas and the arrival of a train to take him home.

Throughout the spot, we catch glimpses of his grandson, pictured in a photo tucked into an old-school pocket watch. When, at long last, a vintage steam train pulls into the station and he climbs aboard, the camera pulls back to reveal the whole scene is actually a model train set, which his real-life grandson is happily playing with.