The film tells the story of a young cook, Tosya Kislitsyna. After graduating from culinary school, she is assigned to the Ural logging enterprise «Bodrovsky». There she meets her dormitory neighbors and a team of lumberjacks. Her independent and determined character surprises the leading worker Ilya Kovrigin, who makes a bet with his comrades: he is confident that he can make Tosya fall in love with him in just a week. However, he soon sincerely becomes attached to her. The film was shot in Moscow, Yalta, as well as in the Perm, Tver, and Ryazan regions. The sets of the lumberjack settlement were built in a ravine next to «Mosfilm» – houses were constructed, hundreds of trees were planted, and a sign reading «Lespromkhoz» (logging enterprise) was installed. The forest scenes were filmed in the Chusovskoy district of Perm Krai, near the village of Bobrovka. The actors had to work in harsh winter conditions – temperatures dropped to -30 °C. To protect the equipment from the cold, the cameramen wrapped the cameras in sheepskin coats. In the scene where Tosya brings the lumberjacks a hot lunch, boiling water was poured into the bowls instead of soup to create a steam effect, but even that froze quickly. In one take, Nikolai Rybnikov (Ilya Kovrigin) accidentally licked an aluminum spoon – the metal instantly stuck to his lips, and the actor had to tear the spoon off along with his skin. In the spring, filming moved to the Tver region, where the winter atmosphere had to be recreated: set decorators used tons of cotton wool to simulate snowdrifts, and torn paper and varnish to create snow whirls and the sparkle of snow. The train episodes were filmed on a narrow-gauge railway in the Ryazan region. The final scenes were shot at the Yalta Film Studio. In the famous shot where Tosya and Ilya sit embracing on the «Kamchatka», the actors had to film in sheepskin coats and felt boots in the summer heat in the pavilion, which was a real ordeal for them.

Filming Locations:

Workers' Settlement

In the Film

Scene where in the winter of 1961–1962, 18-year-old Tosya Kislitsyna, a young graduate of a culinary school, leaves her native Simferopol and arrives by assignment at a distant Siberian logging enterprise. Instead of the familiar southern warmth, she is met by a harsh winter, snowy expanses, and a modest workers' settlement.

In Reality

The scene was filmed in Moscow near «Mosfilm», where sets were specially built. In a ravine on Mosfilmovskaya Street near building 11k1, wooden houses were erected, about three hundred trees were planted, and a sign reading «Lespromkhoz» was installed to create the atmosphere of a remote workers' settlement. Over time, the appearance of these places has changed, but it was here that the filming of the iconic film once took place.

Railway

In the Film

Scene where the train starts moving, its wheels clattering on the rails, and is already picking up speed. Tosya runs after the departing train and, with Ilya's help, climbs onto the train at the last moment. He deftly and somewhat comically pulls her up by her coat, without even taking the cigarette out of his mouth.

In Reality

The scene was filmed on a narrow-gauge railway in the Ryazan region, on the section between the stations Spas-Klepiki and Pilevo. This railway line was once used for transporting timber and logging enterprise workers, which made it an ideal place to create an authentic atmosphere of a Siberian settlement. Surrounded by dense snowy forests, the rails ran among tall fir trees and birches, creating a picturesque backdrop for the scene with the departing train. At that time, the narrow-gauge railway was still actively used, but later it was abandoned, and many of its sections were dismantled.

Attic

In the Film

Scene where Ilya is repairing the roof in the attic of one of the houses, concentrating on hammering nails. His friends, taking advantage of the opportunity, ask Tosya to bring him new materials. After a funny incident between the characters, understanding arises again, they finally make up and begin to think about a future together.

In Reality

The scene was filmed at the Yalta Film Studio — one of the oldest film studios in Russia, located on the picturesque coast of the Black Sea. The studio has an extensive territory with pavilions equipped with everything necessary for creating complex scenes. Over the years, Soviet and Russian films have been shot here, including those requiring sea and mountain landscapes. During the work on the film «Devchata», the final scenes were shot at the Yalta Film Studio. The studio's pavilions made it possible to recreate the necessary atmosphere and shoot moments that required special conditions, including the scenes in the «Kamchatka», where the actors had to play winter episodes in hot summer weather.