“Ashes in the Snow” Trailer Reveals Untold World War II Story

World War II was such a monumental loss for people in every country that there will never be a shortage of stories about tragedy, oppression and resiliency, even if it seems like they've all been told.

Ashes in the Snow, based on the novel Between Shades of Gray, is the story of Lithuanian artist Lina, who sketched the faces of both the occupying Russian forces and the captive Eastern Europeans held against their will and kept in prison on trumped-up charges.

Acclaimed British actress Bel Powley (White Boy Rick) plays Lina, and leads a cast of mostly European actors. The film had its world premiere at the Los Angeles Film Festival in September.

Ashes in the Snow arrives in select theaters on Friday, January 11.

About Kip Mooney

Like many film critics born during and after the 1980s, my hero is Roger Ebert. The man was already the best critic in the nation when he won the Pulitzer in 1975, but his indomitable spirit during and after his recent battle with cancer keeps me coming back to read not only his reviews but his insightful commentary on the everyday. But enough about a guy you know a lot about. I knew I was going to be a film critic—some would say a snob—in middle school, when I had to voraciously defend my position that The Royal Tenenbaums was only a million times better than Adam Sandler’s remake of Mr. Deeds. From then on, I would seek out Wes Anderson’s films and avoid Sandler’s like the plague. Still, I like to think of myself as a populist, and I’ll be just as likely to see the next superhero movie as the next Sundance sensation. The thing I most deplore in a movie is laziness. I’d much rather see movies with big ambitions try and fail than movies with no ambitions succeed at simply existing. I’m also a big advocate of fun-bad movies like The Room and most of Nicolas Cage’s work. In the past, I’ve written for The Dallas Morning News and the North Texas Daily, which I edited for a semester. I also contributed to Dallas-based Pegasus News, which in the circle of life, is now part of The Dallas Morning News, where I got my big break in 2007. Eventually, I’d love to write and talk about film full-time, but until that’s a viable career option, I work as an auditor for Wells Fargo. I hope to one day meet my hero, go to the Toronto International Film Festival, and compete on Jeopardy. Until then, I’m excited to share my love of film with you.