1. Wide shot Kalyazin, with cross-country skiers 2. Kalyazin street scene 3. Pensioners, walking down the street 4. Pan of both sets of felt boots worn by pensioners 5. People washing clothes through a hole cut in the ice 6. Hand axe cutting the ice, pan to clothes being washed 7. SOUNDBITE: (Russian) Vyacheslav, pensioner: "Why wear felt boots? Because it's so cold and it's more comfortable with them on. My feet would freeze in normal boots, particularly coming out here to do my washing." 8. Washing clothes through the ice 9. Exterior Bitza felt boot factory, Kalyazin 10. Interior factory, workers and machinery 11. Worker and steam from the machinery 12. Workers unrolling bundle of felt boots 13. Workers unravelling felt boots 14. Boots being stretched on machine 15. Close up felt boots 16. Factory worker 17. Hands working on wool 18. SOUNDBITE: (Russian) Maria Lupanova, specialist worker at the Bitza factory: "I think that the Russian winter is here to stay. Felt boots are a necessity especially for men working on building sites around here. My two sons are working on a building sites in St. Petersburg and they go everywhere in their felt boots. And of course children should always wear felt boots in winter. I live forty minutes walk away from the factory and I never leave home without my felt boots. If my feet are warm then I am warm." 19. Worker stacking up steaming felt boots 20. Boots getting hammered into shape 21. Racks of felt boots 22. Factory machinery, pan down to felt boots being processed 23. Vadim Ivanov, head of production at the Bitza factory 24. SOUNDBITE: (Russian) Vadim Ivanov, head of production at the Bitza factory: "Felt boots are the national Russian shoes. And it will always have a place in Russian life. This is not only due to the harshness of the Russian winter, but also because felt boots are made of natural materials and are warm." 25. Finished felt boots 26. Stacks of finished felt boots STORYLINE: Russians determined to keep out the cold have been turning to traditional footwear to stay warm this winter in the form of felt boots known as 'Valenki'. Temperatures have been lower than normal this year and the 'Valenki' boots have become the must-have fashion footwear, even though they're not waterproof. For generations, the Volga river town of Kalyazin has been renowned for its Valenki, which were first made by artisans in their homes, then manufactured by workers in the dusty, damp and noisy factory. Today, the plant is part of a Moscow-based firm called Bitza, whose need for cheaper production costs has combined with the Kalyazin workers' desperate need for jobs. Now they're back at work making traditional felt boots for everyone. The workers at the factory in Klyazin take bales of rough wool and beat, steam, and shrink it to make boots Shop steward Maria Lukyanova says she wouldn't wear anything other than Valenki. The equipment is decades old, but plant manager Vadim Ivanov says finding spare parts isn't a problem. Many other felt boot plants in Russia have stopped production, providing a steady source of such equipment as the metal shoe trees used to shape the final product. The plant is trying out new decorations, such as embroidery and appliques, to interest buyers. Children and policemen often wear Valenki but they are not proving popular in big cities because of puddles on the streets. But in rural areas, where the snow tends to stay drier and you'll see them everywhere, on young and old alike. You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/c115c63042903487c0ccf6ca6b7ed542 Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork

• published: 30 Jul 2015
• views: 1