The two Finnish series commissioned by the streaming service Elisa Viihde, are among six high end international dramas to be sneak-previewed to some 450 TV executives in Cannes on April 8.  

The 10x50’ high-octane political thriller Bullets is produced by Finland’s Vertigo Production in co-production with Germany’s Nadcon and Benelux’s Lumiere group. Antti Pesonen and Matti Laine share the writing credit with Kirsi Vikman, and the established commercials director Pete Riski has joined the creative team.  Krista Kosonen (Purge) plays the undercover cop Mari Saari who has infiltrated the inner circle of a suicide bomber recruiter Madina Taburova, played by Sibel Kekilli (Game of Thrones). The international cast also counts Tommi Korpela, Outi Mäenpää, Dragomir Mrsic and Benelux star Koen de Bow.

Producer and co-creator Minna Virtanen told nordicfilmandtvnews.com that the film team has moved from Brussels to Helsinki, and shooting will end in May. The premiere on the SVOD service Elisa Viihde in September 2018, will be followed by a roll out on MTV3. Sky Vision will start selling the series at MIPTV. 

The 10x50’ crime series Arctic Circle is produced by Yellow Film & TV, in co-production with Germany’s Bavaria Fiction. Lagardère Studios Distribution handle world sales. Olli Haikka, Petja Peltomaa, Joona Tena are co-creators, Tena is co-writer with Iceland’s Jón Atli Jónasson; seasoned TV director Hannu Salonen is attached.

Arctic Circle takes place in Finnish Lapland, where police officer Nina Kautsalo (Lina Kuustonen) finds an unconscious woman chained up in a remote hut with a deadly virus in her blood. German virologist Thomas Lorenz (Miximilian Brückner) travels to Lapland to investigate. The show will first be available on Elisa Viihde at Christmas 2018 and later on YLE.

The other international shows selected for MIPDrama Buyers’ Summit are 

  • ITV Studios’ Cleaning Up (UK), 
  • Movistar+’s Gigantes (Spain), 
  • Sky Germany’s Pagan Peak (Germany/Austria) and 
  • Channel One Russia’s Trigger. 

Laurine Garaude, Director of Television at Reed MIDEM, which organises MIPTV said: “We are thrilled with the rich selection for the inaugural MIPDrama Buyers’ Summit, which encompasses a diverse range of genres from territories as diverse as Finland, Spain, the UK, Germany, and Russia. And since they are all projects never-seen-before by buyers, this makes the screenings a mouth-watering prospect for those seeking exclusive content.”  The MIPDrama Buyers’ Summit will be held at the Palais des Festivals in Cannes one day before MIPTV (April 9-12). The inaugural Cannes Series Festival will run April 4-11.