The director who is wrapping John Travolta’s Trading Paints, will direct the Finnish adventure drama Layla, which will be pitched at Series Mania.

The project in development, is produced by Minna Virtanen of Vertigo, in co-production with Kjartan Þór Þórðarson of Iceland’s Sagafilm.

The 6 part series is written by Antti Pesonen (Bullets, Bordertown) based on the eponymous best-selling novel by Jari Tervo. Set in the first wave of the European migrant crisis, Layla tells the story of severed family ties and unexpected friendship in the face of impossible odds and adversity.

Istanbul-born Layla (15) of Kurdish origin, is forced into a marriage. When her husband realises on her wedding night that she’s not a virgin, the teenage girl is forced to flee to avoid honour killing from her father and brothers. She wants to flee to Finland where she hopes to track her elder sister who left home under similar circumstances. On her journey, she meets another Arab girl on the run, Tamara. The young girls are smuggled across the Mediterranean, into Italy, Germany and end up in Finland.

“The series is highly topical and emotional but it’s not bleak, rather like an adventure drama” told Virtanen to nordicfilmandtvnews.com. “Basically, it’s a modern fairy tale, with two strong independent women fighting for their lives and for a better future, finding solace and strength through friendship."

Swedish director of Kurdish origin Karzan Kader who had his breakthrough with the film Bekas (Nordic Talents winner 2010) and is in the editing stage of the US film Trading Paint, will make his TV drama debut.

Virtanen says: “Karzan is the ideal director. He’s gone through a similar life experience [he fled warn-torn Iraqi-Kurdistan to Sweden as a kid] and will bring an insider’s touch to the story.”

Virtanen will look for co-producers and co-financiers at Series Mania in Lille (May 02-04) where Layla will be introduced at the CoPro Pitches session.


MIPDRAMA COUP DE COEUR
Layla shares many ingredients – notably the female double-act –  with Vertigo’s other upcoming series Bullets, which just won the Buyers Coup de Coeur at THE MIPDRAMA summit this week, following a 15-minute exclusive clip shown to around 450 world buyers and commissioners.

The political thriller stars Krista Kosonen (Purge) as an undercover cop who befriends the ex-terrorist and suicide bomber recruiter Madina Taburova, played by German female actor Sibel Kekilli (Game of Thrones).

The €5.1m series commissioned by Finland’s leading streaming service Elisa Viihde, was partly financed by foreign coin from Benelux (Lunanime/Lumiere Group) and Germany (Nadcon), with a decisive support from Finland’s tax incentives Tekes.

“We’ve had a fantastic collaboration with our European partners who share our vision,” notes Virtanen. Bullets is represented internationally by Sky Vision. Elisa Viihde will launch the show in Finland in the fall 2018.