Finnish Winter War Documentary Fire and Ice: The Winter War of Finland and Russia has now been released on TV by PBS affiliates across the U.S.

In November 1939, when Finland was invaded by the Soviet Union, no one expected that this tiny nation could resist the largest military force in the world. And no one anticipated that 1939 would be one of the coldest winters in recorded history, what historians have called a frozen hell.

Filmed on the old battlefields of Finland and Russia, Fire and Ice: The Winter War of Finland and Russia dramatically depicts the intensity of the warfront and the homefront. Outnumbered and outgunned, Finns knew this war was not about changing the borders between nations; it was a total war for the very existence of a people. The Winter War involved all of Finland’s people - including its women who organized themselves into a unique corps called Lotta Svärd. Their fierce resistance changed the course of World War II and saved a democracy. Fire and Ice: The Winter War of Finland and Russia is a timeless story of courage against all odds, of a people united to preserve their freedom. The film tells the story through a mix of eyewitness accounts and diaries, letters and dispatches from frontline participants. It combines archive footage with stunning reenactments, including high end special effects as well as computer generated animation to provide a unique inside look and feel of the wartime experience. Produced and directed by Emmy award winning producer Ben Strout of MastersWork Media, Fire and Ice  shows how  Finland’s under-strength forces mobilized against the world’s largest superpower and how the outcome changed the course of the Second World War.
“Fire and Ice: The Winter War of Finland and Russia”, has been shown at film festivals and Finnish cultural events including Finn Grand Fest 2005 in Marquette, Michigan, the Heartland Film Festival in Indiana, and for the Finnish American Society in Dallas, Texas. "Fire and Ice" has now been released to PBS stations around the U.S. Check your local PBS affiliates for time and date of broadcast. 
In conjunction with the release, PBS edia has developed a website and educational materials that meet standard curriculum requirements. Additional information about the documentary is available from the dedicated website www.fireandicemovie.com . Information about author, William R. Trotter, interviewed in the documentary and his definitive history A Frozen Hell: The Russo-Finnish Winter War of 1939-40 is also available through www.fireandicemovie.com.