Jimmy Stewart stars ; talks about fireflies; woman flashes a flashlight imitating fireflies

A holiday favourite for generations... George Bailey has spent his entire life giving to the people of Bedford Falls. All that prevents rich skinflint Mr. Potter from taking over the entire town is George's modest building and loan company. But on Christmas Eve the business's $8,000 is lost and George's troubles begin.

Franz Kafka has been stricken with a serious case of writer's block on Christmas Eve. He's trying to get started on his latest short story, "The Metamorphosis", but he isn't sure what his protagonist Gregor Samsa should become. As Kafka struggles with indecision, he has to contend with a loud holiday party downstairs, several unexpected guests, and a sinister knife salesman who has a bone to pick with him.

The Italian countryside was once full of fireflies, but now the flickering of far-off headlights pepper the fields as johns go hunting for a one-night mate. In the heat of the night, the reflective glow of other bioluminescent bodies returns the magic of twinkling lights to the darkness.

In Cuba the flight of fireflies in the night is said to be like a meeting of miniature specters, weakened fires, or wandering souls. Isabel invokes them and triggers the dance.

A boy and a girl expose a quantity of film to a constellation of fireflies, making a cameraless portrait of bioluminescence. This is what the world might look like to a firefly, from birth to death. This film was not made with a lens. It is a self-portrait of fireflies.

A firefly with a miner's lighted helmet explores a camper's tent and the various people-sized items that, from his perspective, are gigantic, then utters the cartoon's single line of dialog.