White Snow

White Snow (Russian: Белый снег, romanized: Bely sneg) is a 2020 Russian biographical sports drama film directed by Nikolay Khomeriki. The film is based on real events that happened at the 1997 FIS Cross-Country World Cup. For the first time in the history of the competition, a man or woman skier Yelena Välbe played by Olga Lerman won five out of five gold medals in all events entered.[2][3]

White Snow
Theatrical release poster
Directed byNikolay Khomeriki
Written by
  • Timur Khvan
  • Marat Kim
  • Tatyana Guryanova
  • Aleksandr Guryanov
  • Andrey Kureichik
Produced by
  • Timur Khvan
  • Aleksey Ryazantsev
  • Marat Kim
  • Ulyana Savelyeva
  • Pavel Loginov
  • Nadezhda Churkina
Starring
CinematographyFedor Lyass
Music byAleksey Aygi
Production
company
EGO Production
Distributed byKaroRental
Release dates
  • December 2020 (2020-12) (Window to Europe)
  • March 4, 2021 (2021-03-04) (Russia)
Running time
127 minutes
CountryRussia
LanguageRussian
Box office
  • ₽>55.4 million
  • ~$1 million[1]

It is scheduled to be theatrically released on March 4, 2021 by KaroRental.[4]

Plot[5]

The film tells about a girl named Lena Trubitsyna from Magadan, Soviet Union, who has become a successful sportswoman and participates in the World Ski Championships.

In 1997, at the World Ski Championships in Trondheim, Norway and for the first time in the history of World Championship skiing, a skier, Russian Yelena Välbe, won five gold medals out of five possible.

Returning the awards to Russia, Välbe goes on a tour of Norway. There she learns more about the Norwegian monarchy, as she is interested in the history of the royal family. The king learns about Välbe in Norway and invites her to the royal palace. The conversation is about the merits of skiing. The king is of course a ski enthusiast and invites Välbe to coach the Norwegian ski team. Välbe suddenly remembers the whole past through a flashback that starts from the very beginning and ends with a momentous day in Trondheim.[6]

Cast

Production
Yelena Välbe was awarded the medal of the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland", I class.

The concept of the film is based on a large-scale biopic set in the winter ski mountains of Russia and Estonia. The filmmakers presented a film about historical and legendary records in cross-country skiing, recorded in the history of sports by the Russian athlete Yelena Välbe. Since February 1997, at Granåsen Ski Centre in Trondheim, Norway, at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 1997, one of the most striking events in the history of Russia and the world of sports took place: a woman won gold in all five cross-country skiing competitions. Yelena Välbe was a simple resident of Magadan.

However, the audience witnessed the preservation of sportsmanship and perseverance as the Russian skier gained recognition from Norway. The skier was the only woman to set such a sports record. The filmmakers have known Välbe since the 90s as a beacon of Russian pride. They bought White Snow for the screens, which, in their opinion, is part of the collective consciousness of Russia as a whole. According to director Nikolay Khomeriki, «I was hooked in this story that through the story of one strong man the story of the whole country is being told...».

From the production of the film company EGO Production - White Snow is a reliable retelling of events, permission for which was given by Yelena Vyalbe herself. Today Yelena Välbe is the president of the All-Russian public organization "Russian Ski Racing Federation", head of the Russian Ski Sports Association, multiple world and Olympic champion. When White Snow was in production, Välbe provided support at all stages of filming, including script adjustments and even advice to actresses who played challenging roles in real-life skiing conditions.[7]

Especially for the filming of the film, Atomic and Fischer made skis of the 1997 design.

Filming

Principal photography began in 2020, the film was shot in the ski mountains of Magadan, Moscow, Russia[8] and Tallinn, Pärnu, Estonia.

A professional sports team of 26 people took part in the filming of the film in the town of Kirovsk, Murmansk Oblast - members of the Russian national skiing team, winners of the World Cup stages, winners of the World Ski Championships, champions and prize-winners of the Russian Championship, an international judge.

The champion's granddaughter Yelena Välbe at the age of 8 played Angelina Välbe in the children's role.

Release

White Snow was the opening film of the 18th international festival "Window to Europe Film Festival". The event took place in December 2020 in the town of Vyborg. In total, the competition program included eleven full-length feature films.[9][10]

The film premiered in Russia on March 4, 2021, the Russian distributor is the film company "KaroRental".

References
  1. "Белый снег - Financial Information Russia (CIS)". The Numbers. Retrieved 2021-04-13.
  2. "White Snow Movie: World's First Biopic About Star Of XCSkiing Is Almost Complete". The Daily Skier. July 23, 2020. Retrieved January 20, 2021.
  3. Karev, Igor (December 11, 2020). "Елена Вяльбе: я бы скорее упала сама, чем бросила флаг" [Yelena Vyalbe: I would rather fall myself than throw the flag]. Arguments and Facts (in Russian). Retrieved February 13, 2021.
  4. "Рецензия на байопик о Елене Вяльбе "Белый снег". Фильм – отражение нынешней ситуации в лыжах" [Review of the biopic about Yelena Vyalbe White Snow. The film is a reflection of the current situation in skiing]. Eurosport (in Russian). 5 March 2021. Retrieved March 5, 2021.
  5. "Белый снег - Financial Information Russia (CIS)". The Numbers. Retrieved 2021-04-13.
  6. "Белый снег, 2021". KinoPoisk (in Russian). Retrieved February 13, 2021.
  7. Khoroshilova, Tatyana (April 22, 2020). "На лыжах - в историю" [On skis - in history]. rg.ru (in Russian). Retrieved March 5, 2021.
  8. "In Moscow finished shooting the film White snow on skier Elena Vyalbe". KXan 36 Daily News. August 3, 2020. Retrieved January 20, 2021.
  9. Sychev, Sergey (December 10, 2020). "Жди и смотри: 10 фестивальных хитов декабря" [Wait and see: 10 festival hits in December]. Izvestia (in Russian). Retrieved February 13, 2021.
  10. "В Выборге в полузакрытом формате стартовал кинофестиваль "Окно в Европу"" [The "Window to Europe" film festival started in Vyborg in a semi-closed format]. regnum.ru (in Russian). Retrieved February 13, 2021.
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