White Snow

{{Infobox film

| name = White Snow

| image = White_Snow_Bely_Sneg_Film_Poster.jpg

| caption = Theatrical release poster

| director = Nikolay Khomeriki

| producer = {{Plainlist|

Timur Khvan
Aleksey Ryazantsev
Marat Kim
Ulyana Savelyeva
Pavel Loginov
Nadezhda Churkina

}}

| writer = {{Plainlist|

Timur Khvan
Marat Kim
Tatyana Guryanova
Aleksandr Guryanov
Andrey Kureichik

}}

| starring = {{Plainlist|

}}

| music = Aleksey Aygi

| cinematography = Fedor Lyass

| editing =

| studio = EGO Production

| distributor = KaroRental

| runtime = 127 minutes

| released = {{Film date|2020|12||Window to Europe|2021|3|4|Russia}}

| country = Russia

| language = Russian

| budget =

| gross = {{plainlist |

{{RUB}}>55.4 million
~$1 million{{Cite web|title=Белый снег - Financial Information Russia (CIS)|url=https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Belyy-sneg-(2021-Russia)/Russia-(CIS)|access-date=2021-04-13|website=The Numbers}}

}}

White Snow ({{langx|ru|Белый снег|Bely sneg}}) is a 2020 Russian biographical sports drama film directed by Nikolay Khomeriki.

The film is based on events that happened at the 1997 FIS Cross-Country World Cup. For the first time in the history of the competition, a skier Yelena Välbe played by Olga Lerman won five out of five gold medals in all events entered.{{cite web |url=https://www.dailyskier.com/2020/07/23/white-snow-movie-worlds-first-biopic-about-star-of-xcskiing-is-almost-complete/ |title=White Snow Movie: World's First Biopic About Star Of XCSkiing Is Almost Complete |work=The Daily Skier |date=July 23, 2020 |access-date=January 20, 2021}}{{cite web |url=https://aif.ru/sport/person/elena_vyalbe_ya_by_skoree_upala_sama_chem_brosila_flag |title=Елена Вяльбе: я бы скорее упала сама, чем бросила флаг |language=Russian |trans-title=Yelena Vyalbe: I would rather fall myself than throw the flag |last=Karev |first=Igor |date=December 11, 2020 |work=Arguments and Facts |access-date=February 13, 2021}} The film theatrically released on March 4, 2021 by KaroRental.{{cite web |url=https://www.eurosport.ru/cross-country-skiing/story_sto8160140.shtml |title=Рецензия на байопик о Елене Вяльбе "Белый снег". Фильм – отражение нынешней ситуации в лыжах |language=Russian |trans-title=Review of the biopic about Yelena Vyalbe White Snow. The film is a reflection of the current situation in skiing |work=Eurosport |date=5 March 2021 |access-date=March 5, 2021}}

Plot<ref>{{Cite web|title=Белый снег - Financial Information Russia (CIS)|url=https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Belyy-sneg-(2021-Russia)/Russia-(CIS)|access-date=2021-04-13|website=The Numbers}}</ref>

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

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 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.{{cite web |url=https://www.kinopoisk.ru/film/1345722/ |title=Белый снег, 2021 |language=Russian |work=KinoPoisk |access-date=February 13, 2021}}

Cast

Olga Lerman as Yelena Välbe (also tr. Elena Vyalbe), a Soviet and Russian cross-country skier
Angelina Välbe as Yelena 'Lena' Trubitsyna, 8 years old
Polina Vataga as Yelena 'Lena' Trubitsyna, 14 years old
Fyodor Dobronravov as Viktor, grandfather
Nadezhda Markina as Militsa, grandmother
Anna Ukolova as Yelena's mother
Aleksandr Ustyugov as Maksimych, instructor
Mikhail Bespalov as Trubitsyn, a taxi driver
Darya Ekamasova as Irina Makarova
Anna Kotova as Larisa Lazutina
Vadim Andreyev as Petr
Dmitriy Podnozov as Grushin
Aleksander Gorbatov as Yuriy 'Yura'
Polina Chernyshova as Nina Gavrylyuk
Ekaterina Ageeva as Olga Danilova
Aleksandr Klyukvin as Zharov, a sports commentator
Vladimir Kapustin as Voronin
Natalya Tereshkova as Tamara Tikhonova
Lasse Lindberg as King of Norway
Johan Elm as Urmas Välbe (also tr. Urmas Vyalbe)
Stepan Rival as Franz
Artyom Eshkin as Ilya
Mariya Bystrova as Trude Dybendahl
Odd Helge Brugrand as Norwegian policeman

Production

File:Yelena Välbe (2014).jpg, I class.]]

The concept of the film is a biopic set in the winter ski mountains of Russia and Estonia. The filmmakers presented a film about records in cross-country skiing by the Russian athlete Yelena Välbe. Since February 1997, at Granåsen Ski Centre in Trondheim, Norway, at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 1997, a woman won gold in all five cross-country skiing competitions.

From the production of the film company EGO Production - White Snow is a retelling of events, permission for which was given by Vyalbe herself. Today 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 advice to actresses who played challenging roles in real-life skiing conditions.{{cite web |url=https://rg.ru/2020/04/22/zavershilis-semki-filma-belyj-sneg-o-luchshej-lyzhnice-xx-veka.html |title=На лыжах - в историю |language=Russian |trans-title=On skis - in history |last=Khoroshilova |first=Tatyana |date=April 22, 2020 |website=rg.ru |access-date=March 5, 2021}}

= Filming =

Principal photography began in 2020, the film was shot in the ski mountains of Magadan, Moscow, Russia{{cite web |url=https://www.kxan36news.com/in-moscow-finished-shooting-the-film-white-snow-on-skier-elena-vyalbe |title=In Moscow finished shooting the film White snow on skier Elena Vyalbe |work=KXan 36 Daily News |date=August 3, 2020 |access-date=January 20, 2021}} and Tallinn, Pärnu, Estonia.

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.{{cite web |url=https://iz.ru/1097238/sergei-sychev/zhdi-i-smotri-10-festivalnykh-khitov-dekabria |title=Жди и смотри: 10 фестивальных хитов декабря |language=Russian |trans-title=Wait and see: 10 festival hits in December |last=Sychev |first=Sergey |date=December 10, 2020 |work=Izvestia |access-date=February 13, 2021}}{{cite web |url=https://regnum.ru/news/3135608.html |title=В Выборге в полузакрытом формате стартовал кинофестиваль "Окно в Европу" |language=Russian |trans-title=The "Window to Europe" film festival started in Vyborg in a semi-closed format |website=regnum.ru |access-date=February 13, 2021}} The film premiered in Russia on March 4, 2021, the Russian distributor is the film company "KaroRental".