A fast-food restaurant becomes an emergency refuge in the trailer for The Buffalo Miracle, Ben Proudfoot’s documentary about strangers who sheltered together during the devastating Buffalo blizzard of December 2022.
The Oscar-winning director of The Last Repair Shop and The Queen of Basketball combines survivors’ accounts with hand-drawn animation, turning a story of emergency shelter into an unlikely Christmas gathering.
As the storm shut down roads and emergency services around Buffalo, New York, a McDonald’s manager kept the restaurant open for people needing food and warmth. Among those taking refuge were a father with his infant daughter, a couple separated from their families and immigrant business owners. A laptop showing a Buffalo Bills game offered a connection to life beyond the snow.
Bills quarterback Josh Allen is an executive producer on the short, which premiered at the Telluride Film Festival and joins HBO’s NFL Shorts documentary series. Its focus is the community around the team, and the ordinary people who made room for strangers when the city was overwhelmed. The film’s participants include restaurant employees Kristin Kosha and Jeffrey Spengler, alongside Amherst police officers Thomas M. Brown and Derek Westbrook.
HBO acquired global television and streaming rights to the film.
The Buffalo Miracle premieres November 24 at 9 p.m. ET/PT on HBO in the US and will stream on HBO Max.
