VTB: filming of a new family movie about Kamchatka bears has started
The new film will be dedicated to the brown bear family of Kamchatka. A joint project of VTB, the Foundation for Nature Defenders and the Shpilenok Film studio is scheduled to be released on a wide screen in 2028, Kamchatka.Today reports.
The authors of the film are the creators of the film “The Fiery Fox” – Anna and Dmitry Shpilenok, as announced at the XVI International Forum “Ecology”.
“We worked with the team of the new bear film last year on the release of The Fire Fox. Judging by the response we have received from critics and viewers, there is a request for kind, beautiful stories that can bring the whole family together and tell about the nature of our country and its amazing inhabitants. The new film promises to be even more exciting and will tell about the power of maternal love of the big dipper, the main character,” said Natalia Kochneva, Senior Vice president of VTB.
The observation of a family of brown bears and filming of their real life, which will form the basis of the film, take place during long expeditions on the territory of the Kronotsky Nature Reserve in Kamchatka since the fall of 2024. The complexity of the filming process is the need to conduct long-term observations and filming in extreme locations and severe weather conditions. Bears must trust, allow a human to be around to capture their real life in the wild.
The documentaries managed to get unique footage of the cubs’ first days of life. It was not an easy task, because the dens are located on steep cliffs.
“Cubs’ first steps into a big life are sometimes a truly extreme event. For a long time we observed a bear that climbed too high in the fall – right on the peak of a huge mountain, where she had offspring. Her newborn cubs couldn’t get down by themselves, they fell and rolled down. We have been watching them from afar every day for several weeks. Mama bear developed a whole technology – she went down 10-20 meters and made a hole in the snow, dragging the cubs into it one at a time. Then she went down a few meters again and repeated the pattern. Everything to save their cubs,” says Anna Shpilenok, the author of the film.
Now the team is preparing for the most spectacular stage – the “bait” season, when bears come out en masse to the lake to spawn salmon. In the fall, it is planned to film animal care in dens – part of this process has already been captured during the exploration expedition.
VTB’s social responsibility is a key element of the bank’s culture. Caring for nature and preserving Russia’s biodiversity are seen as a contribution to ensuring the health and well-being of future generations. Environmental projects are implemented within the framework of the target program “Healthy Country”, created in the interests of the national projects “Long and active life”, “Environmental well-being” and “Family”.
As part of the program, VTB supports environmental projects of partners, including the Land of the Leopard, the Kronotsky Nature Reserve, the Amur Tiger Center, as well as cultural initiatives aimed at nature conservation, such as the production of the documentary film The Fiery Fox. Since 2024, VTB has been supporting the Foundation for Defenders of Nature.
“The Fiery Fox” became the highest-grossing Russian wildlife film and received a number of professional awards, including the Golden Eagle for the best non-fiction film of 2024, the Far Eastern Film Award, the Producers Guild Award of the Cinematographers Union, and the national Crystal Compass Award of the Russian Geographical Society. The film has participated in more than 20 film festivals in 12 countries.
The Nature Defenders Foundation is an environmental organization created by conservation professionals that supports employees of nature reserves and national parks, community leaders and volunteers, scientists and veterinarians – people who have made it their life’s work to protect wildlife. The Nature Defenders Fund was established by the Association of Conservation Workers.
Photo by Igor Shpilenka.