"The spirit of the story," says Edward Albert, who stars in the picture as Jeffrey West, "is about a man who is betrayed and destroyed, physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually, who bit by bit has to rebuild himself. It’s the best film I’ve done in a decade."

Set in Russia in 1991, during the throes of some of the country’s greatest political and emotional turmoils, the filmmakers had to battle one obstacle after another during production. In fact, the story of the making of "The Ice Runner" is almost as compelling as the story of the film itself: the production was trapped and disrupted by the communist coup, armed guards and tanks monitored practically every move, intolerable living conditions were softened by fabled Eastern-bloc hospitality, and the chance to work with Russian actors and craftsmen in locations, (including a heretofore top secret nuclear powered Soviet Ice Breaker), that were both desperately remote and spectacularly dramatic proved irresistible.

"It was an incredible experience working in Russia," says Barry Samson, who made his feature film directorial debut with this picture. "The country is similar to the way the American Wild West in the 1800’s must have been. There was this vastness to the countryside, this wide-open terrain certainly not spoiled by filmmaking. The people, for the most, part, really knew nothing of movies. It was difficult to work there because of the language barrier and their general living conditions, but it’s a filmmaker’s dream’ we were able to pretty much do whatever we wanted: we derailed a train, filmed on an ice breaker, worked with 2,000 reindeer and were able to utilize unspoiled locations. It truly was amazing. Up until just a few years ago, it had been inconceivable that an American picture such as "The Ice Runner" with its story of repression could be produced within the Evil Empire,’ says producer Jeffrey Sneller, but along with the changing times, he struck a relatively simple deal with Mosfilm.

Because of the politics, it was impossible to shoot in the former Soviet Union," Sneller says. "Yet, the country had this unmistakable aura…it was this mysterious place we had all heard so much about, but never really saw too much of. We were very fortunate we were given the official go-ahead to shoot the picture there."

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Filming on the second day started at the Cemetery for Heroes, in front of Kruschev’s tomb. However, production was called to a halt when a column of tanks rolled by and they were instructed by the Army to cease all current activity by the same friendly soldiers that held onlookers at bay the previous day. Now, carrying automatic rifles, they were marching on the city. The attempted coup had begun.

Most of the American cast and crew managed to board a plane to the United States before the airport was closed down. However, Sneller remained behind. "I knew if I had left," he remembers, "that would have been the end of the movie." As best he could, he watched over the sets so that they were not inadvertently destroyed, and he remained in constant contact with his local crew to assure them their jobs were still theirs. Ten days after it all began, the Americans returned to continue filming.

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Shortly after the coup, and amid the turmoil and confusion in the country, the production obtained permission from the Moscow KGB to film in a previously restricted area in Siberia. However, a lack of communication between the authorities failed to alert the local agency to this fact, and they found themselves under heavy and somewhat discomforting surveillance.

"We were all questioned by them" says Samson, "and it was apparent that our moves were being followed. There was also this great language problem, and we really couldn’t communicate. Our interpreters had disappeared; frankly, I think they were nervous. Ultimately, contact with the KGB factions was re-established, clearances were verified and it became business as usual."

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"I was putting blinders on, stuffing cotton in my ears and anything else I could think of to fend off the cold," Edward Albert says. "Conditions in the town were on the primitive side: the local stores basically only sold rubber boots, hard hats and 11 sweaters in different shades of gray and brown. Powdered reindeer horn was acceptable currency, as was fruit juice and medicine. They really had no use for hard cash."

A group of four polar bears appeared on the scene to disrupt filming on the last day as Albert was making the run on the ice across the Bering Strait that forms the exciting climax of the film. Central to the scene is a nuclear powered ice breaker, called the Vayagach, one of the most modern ships in all of Russia.

One particular sequence was being shot down on the ice. The armed crew of the ship surrounded the film crew as protection against the bears’ aggression. Never having seen human beings before, the bears found the cast and crew interesting, but not as riveting as a large seal they happen to stumble upon.

"We went places where humans don’t go," summarizes Samson, "but we made a film that represents the human spirit at its best, no matter where in the world you happen to be. All over the globe, people are experiencing new found freedom and self-expression, which they have never known before. The world is traveling down new corridors, encountering basic human fundamentals so many of us take for granted. Our world, I think, is becoming a smaller and smaller place, whether you happen to live in Los Angeles, South Africa or Moscow."

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