A Behind the Scenes look at making "Nativity"

Here is a fantastic behind the scenes report on the filming of "Nativity." They started shooting in Matera, Italy, which was completed there on June 2, and then on to Morocco where filming will end on June 30. A sample:

I was one of several Christian journalists invited by New Line to spend a recent day on the set of The Nativity Story. After flying into Rome, we took a short flight to Bari and then a one-hour drive into Matera, nestled in the hilly arch of Italy's "boot."

Founded by the Romans in the third century B.C., Matera is home to ancient cave dwellings believed to have housed Italy's first humans some 4,000 years ago. Some of the more "modern" buildings include a 13th-century cathedral, high on a hill in the middle of town. Matera so resembles ancient Palestine and Israel that other Bible movies have been filmed in the same location—Pasolini's The Gospel According to Matthew in 1964, and Mel Gibson's The Passion of The Christ in 2004.

"The joke is that Matera looks more like Jerusalem than Jerusalem does," says R.J. Millard, New Line's marketing consultant.