The White Reindeer

The White Reindeer
Original Finnish poster
Directed byErik Blomberg
Written byErik Blomberg
Mirjami Kuosmanen
Produced byAarne Tarkas
StarringMirjami Kuosmanen
Kalervo Nissilä
Åke Lindman
Arvo Lehesmaa
CinematographyErik Blomberg
Edited byErik Blomberg
Music byEinar Englund
Production
company
Junior-Film
Distributed byAdams Filmi
Suomi-Filmi
Release date
  • 25 July 1952 (1952-07-25)
Running time
74 minutes (1952)
68 minutes (1986 restoration)
CountryFinland
LanguageFinnish
Budget€7,600,000

The White Reindeer (Finnish: Valkoinen peura, Swedish: Den Vita Renen) is a 1952 Finnish folk horror film directed by Erik Blomberg in his feature film debut. Blomberg wrote the screenplay with his wife Mirjami Kuosmanen, who also stars in the lead role. Based on pre-Christian Finnish mythology and Sami shamanism, the film is set in the Finnish Lapland and centers on a young woman, Pirita (Kuosmanen).

The White Reindeer was entered in competition at the 1953 Cannes Film Festival and earned the Jean Cocteau–led jury special award for Best Fairy Tale Film. After its limited release five years later in the United States, it was one of five films to win the 1956 Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Film.