Winner of the 2010 Nordic Council Literary Prize and several major literary awards in Finland and in France, ‘Purge' is a gripping drama about two generations of women in Estonia, during the Soviet occupation in the 1940s and during the 90s. The novel will be adapted by the experienced scriptwriter Marko Leino, co-writer of Mannerheim. The €4 to €5 million Purge will be the second feature film for Jokinen, writer/director of US thriller The Resident starring Hilary Swank.
"Purge is a huge property that we have to be very careful to handle," noted Selin. "When Antti read the book, he immediately fell in love with the material. Now Marko Leino has written a third draft and Antti will write the next one." Several European producers have contacted Selin to get on board the exciting project, scheduled to start filming in the summer 2011. Solar Films will be at the upcoming Baltic Event's Co-Production Market in Tallinn early December to discuss the project.
Other Solar films on their slate include the long-gestated biopic Mannerheim. Selin says he has the financing package together except for two deals that he expects to finalize shortly. Filming on the €13m project will start right after. Meanwhile, the popular Finnish director Aleksi Mäkelä has just finished principal photography on a new untitled film and is already in Thailand and is currently writing his next movie with Paavo Westerberg.
Marja Pyykkö, another talented young director on Solar Films' roster is prepping her second feature after Run Sister Run (over 136,000 domestic admissions). Among the finished films, two Anders Engström movies part of a package of six Vares crime thrillers produced with Finnish broadcaster MTV3 will hit local screens in 2011.
On the television front, after having concentrated on TV formats over the last couple of years, Solar will make its come back in TV drama next year. "We stopped producing TV dramas three years ago because they were impossible to do within the budget cuts imposed by the local TV channels, but next year, we are coming back with a ‘big bang', said Selin. Four different drama series are in pre-production or development stage, among which a remake of Danish cult classic Do You Like Oysters.