Hollywood turned Reposaari into a Siberian collective-farm village

Hollywood transformed Reposaari into a Siberian collective-farm village for the 1984 film White Nights, Yle reports. The Finnish village hosted stars including Isabella Rossellini and Mikhail Baryshnikov during the summer shoot.

Director Taylor Hackford chose Reposaari after the production team searched for suitable locations elsewhere in the Nordic countries. A US film crew could not work in the Soviet Union during the Cold War. The film was also shot at limestone quarries in Parainen and in Helsinki, which stood in for Leningrad and Moscow.

Reposaari resident Sini Tuomisalo, who was a high-school student and worked as a casting assistant on the production, recalls the town filling with visitors from abroad. The stars stayed for a few weeks, while other members of the production crew were there for two or three months.

To create the look of a Siberian collective-farm village, the production team coated half the houses on Kirkkokatu with a mixture of glue, mud and paint, making them appear grey and worn. The road was covered with mud, sand and wood chips because the village was not meant to have paved streets. Aquatic plants were also brought from the shore.

The American and Finnish producers negotiated with each homeowner over the changes. The houses were later cleaned and repainted, and owners reportedly received between 3,000 and 6,000 Finnish marks. Reposaari’s volunteer fire brigade also received payment for the use of its building and other premises. Its compensation rose to more than 160,000 marks, Tuomisalo says, and the brigade bought a new fire engine with the money.

Despite the work, only about 15 minutes of Reposaari footage appears in the finished film. The longest scene filmed there is a dance sequence featuring Gregory Hines in the volunteer fire brigade hall. The film’s Finnish budget was 25 million marks.

White Nights won an Oscar for music: Lionel Richie received the award for the song “Say You, Say Me.” Reposaari’s film history has recently drawn renewed attention through the Sensommar film festival, which brought more than 4,000 visitors to the village this year, according to Yle.