Today’s première of the song „Bring the Snow,” performed by the artists from 23 countries of the world, announced the 2017 film release of „Moomins at Christmas,” which is a Finnish-Polish co-production, based on the prose by Tove Jansson.

Today, the film's producers – Filmkompaniet and Animoon, in co-operation with SDI Media, Universal Music and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Finland – will try to beat the Guinness world record with the release the song "Bring the snow!" (the Polish title: "Nie bój się" – "Don't be afraid") simultaneously in 23 countries. The première of the song is the first official teaser of the film "Moomins at Christmas" which will come to the cinemas in December 2017.

The song "Bring the snow," performed by The City of Prague Philharmonics Orchestra, was written by the Finnish singer Paula Vesala, the music was composed by Jori Sjöroos, and the orchestration was prepared by Jussi Vahvaselkä. The Polish version of the song, with the title "Nie bój się," was performed by Natalia Kukulska – one of the most well-known and esteemed vocalists. The link to the song can be found here.

"From the very beginning, Moominvalley was the place in the imagination of Tove Jansson that gave a hospitable welcome to every exceptional visitor. The idea of recording the song in various languages reflects the heart of the matter," comments Tom Carpelan – the film's executive producer from the Finnish Filmkompaniet.

"Moomins at Christmas" is a story about special time in Moominvalley. The main protagonist is the Moomintroll, who decides not to fall asleep this winter, as the Moomins used to do for generations. He wants to find out how the world looks like when his entire family is asleep. This winter, he will discover what is snow and what is frost, and he will learn a lot about Moominvalley in winter. However, the thing which the Moomintroll awaits with the greatest curiosity is the visit of the mysterious guest, Christmas, who will soon come to the Moominhouse.

The producers of "Moomins at Christmas" are Grzegorz Waclawek, Piotr Szczepanowicz and Zoﬁa Jaroszuk from Animoon, and on the Finnish side, Ira Carpelan and Tom Carpelan from Filmkompaniet. The film is made with the support of the Polish Film Institute and the Finnish Film Foundation.

The script, written by Małgorzata Więckowicz-Żyła, Piotr Szczepanowicz and Ira Carpelan, is based on the books by Tove Jansson. The film-making process uses the materials from the series as well as the puppet animations produced by Film Polski and Jupiter Film in 1980s. The post-production and digital image restoration takes place in Poland and is implemented by the studio FIXAFILM. Computer special effects are made by the animated film studio Letko. The soundtrack will be composed by the recognised and award-winning composer Łukasz Targosz. Michał Fojcik (Sound Mind) will care about the sound editing of "Moomins at Christmas." The project is supported by the National Film Archive in Poland.

"We believe that "Moomins at Christmas" will be a warm and important film. It will encourage the audience to reflect upon family, relationships and the feelings we had during our first Christmas. The understanding of the Moomin world, created by Tove Jansson, is vital to our decisions which we make during film-making," say the film's directors, Jakub Wroński and Ira Carpelan.

You can find more information about the film and the links to all 23 language versions on the website.

DECEMBER 2016