Antti-Jussi Annila, the Finnish director behind “Codename: Annika” and the political drama sequence “Peacemaker,” is about to helm “Sands of Sarasvati,” a Finland-U.Okay. co-production eco-thriller tailored from Risto Isomäki’s best-selling novel.
The screenplay is co-written by Annila and Rachelle Atalla, a Scottish-Egyptian novelist and screenwriter. Isomäki’s supply novel received the Tähtivaeltaja Award and obtained a nomination for the Finlandia Prize.
The movie is produced by Kai Nordberg and Kaarle Aho of Helsinki-based Making Motion pictures alongside Scotland-based Indian producer Rakasree Basu, who co-produces below her Glasgow-based banner Momentum Movies. Basu’s earlier producing credit embody “Iqbal and the Jewel of India.” Growth has obtained backing from the Finnish Movie Basis, with extra help from Display screen Scotland.
Set in opposition to a worsening environmental disaster, the movie is conceived as a character-driven narrative charting the human and geopolitical fallout of local weather change. Manufacturing is deliberate to span the Nordic nations, Scotland and India.
“Reading ‘The Sands of Sarasvati’ made me think how it feels to be late,” Annila mentioned. “To make an ecological thriller where we’re are all running against the clock, as individuals and communities to save the planet, and being late is not an option. The book is not science fiction, but a real possibility of the outcome of the global warming and our indifference towards scientific facts. I want to bring the same feeling to the film — real and grounded. That goes for the tension, the action, the characters, all of it. Truth is more horrifying than fiction in this ecological thriller that feels more current now than ever.”
Annila’s earlier options embody “Jade Warrior” and “Sauna,” which each bowed on the Toronto Movie Competition, and 2017’s ”The Everlasting Street,” which took residence six Jussi Awards. His SkyShowtime crime drama “Codename: Annika” presently airs on Channel 4 within the U.Okay.
“Sands of Sarasvati” arrives as Making Motion pictures marks its thirtieth yr. Co-founded by Nordberg and Aho, the Helsinki banner has produced greater than 120 titles throughout options and documentaries, amongst them Klaus Härö’s Academy Award-shortlisted “The Fencer” and “One Last Deal,” “Heavy Trip” and “Little Wing,” winner of the Nordic Council Movie Prize. The corporate’s most up-to-date launch, “My Sailor My Love,” a Finnish-Irish co-production, had its world premiere at Toronto.
“After 30 years in global film business, we are ready to take up the challenge for this larger-scale international production shooting and producing partly in India,” Nordberg mentioned. “The project hopefully opens us a whole new market in the Indian subcontinent. With the director A.J. Annila we are very enthusiastic of bringing this story to movie screens worldwide.”
By Momentum Movies, Basu has targeted on forging worldwide co-production partnerships that hyperlink Scotland with the broader display business by means of cross-cultural initiatives.
The venture was unveiled on the Cannes Film Market.
