WRITTEN BY: Annika Pham
The Finnish TV series directed by Man in Room 301’s Mikko Kuparinen explores investigative reporting under threat when people don’t want to hear the truth.
The Finnish TV series directed by Man in Room 301’s Mikko Kuparinen explores investigative reporting under threat when people don’t want to hear the truth.
The eight-part crime drama Enemy of the People (Kansan vihollinen) is created by Fire Monkey’s co-founder Roope Lehtinen (White Wall, Black Widows)with Timo Varpio (Easy Living, Downshifters), who also serves as co-writer with Laura Suhonen (Hooked).
Top-lining the series is Kreeta Salminen (All the Sins, Man in Room 301) who plays news reporter Katja. She incurs the wrath of her readers by writing a critical article about the hometown hero, a football star who appears to be mixed up in dubious business schemes. When the athlete is found dead in the swimming pool at his Mediterranean villa, Katja investigates the case. She discovers that the public seems more interested in the titillating lies about her than the truth about the murder. As she searches for the truth, she risks not only her reputation, but her life.
Through the crime genre, the series explores “what it’s like to do investigative reporting in a time when trolls, claims of fake news and the targeting of journalists are facts of life,” said Fire Monkey in a statement.
”I was hooked after reading the first page of the script,” told director Mikko Kuparinen to nordicfilmandtvnews.com. “The narrative is very straightforward and thrilling, but at the same time complex. It challenges our pre-conceptions on many levels. Our goal is to create an emotionally honest, captivating and unpretentious series that would honour its subject matter that couldn’t be more relevant today.”
The ensemble cast includes Tobias Zilliacus (Beartown), Mikko Nousiainen (Peacemaker), Johannes Holopainen (All the Sins), Anna Böhm, Kai Vaine (Bullets) and Milka Ahlroth (Bordertown, Bullets).
The series produced by Roope Lehtinen, Hannu Kalliolahti, Saara Kankaanpää was supported by the Finnish Film Foundation.
REinvent International Sales has picked up global distribution rights and will launch the series at MIPCOM in the fall.
Enemy of the People will premiere on the streaming service C More in 2022 and at a later date on MTV.