SkyShowtime Codename: Annika director Antti-Jussi Annila is set to direct Sands of Sarasvati, an eco-thriller in development as a Finland–UK co-production. The film is adapted from Risto Isomäki’s best-selling novel, which won the Tähtivaeltaja Award and was nominated for the Finlandia Prize. The screenplay is co-written by Annila and Scottish novelist and screenwriter Rachelle Atalla.
The project is produced by Academy Award-shortlisted and Golden Globe-nominated Kai Nordberg and Kaarle Aho of Helsinki-based Making Movies Ltd. with Rakasree Basu (Iqbal and the Jewel of India) co-producing under her Glasgow-based banner Momentum Films.
Through Momentum, Basu has been building international co-production partnerships connecting Scotland with the international screen industry, focusing on cross-cultural storytelling.
Set against the backdrop of an escalating environmental crisis, Sands of Sarasvati is conceived as a character-driven narrative exploring the human and geopolitical consequences of climate change. The film is planned to shoot across the Nordics, Scotland and India.
Development is supported by the Finnish Film Foundation and Screen Scotland.
Annila’s previous credits include Jade Warrior and Sauna, both of which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. He also directed The Eternal Road, which won him the Jussi Awards, as well as the internationally acclaimed political drama series Peacemaker and SkyShowtime’s crime drama Codename: Annika, now playing on Channel 4.
Sands of Sarasvati marks a key project on Making Movies’ slate as the company celebrates its 30th year. Co-founded by Kai Nordberg and Kaarle Aho, the Helsinki-based banner has produced more than 120 titles spanning features and documentaries, including Klaus Härö’s Academy Award-shortlisted The Fencer and One Last Deal, Heavy Trip, and Little Wing, which won the Nordic Council Film Prize. The latest works includes Finnish-Irish co-production My Sailor My Love, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival.
The company has a longstanding focus on international co-productions and globally resonant storytelling.
Director Antti-Jussi Annila said: “Reading The Sands of Sarasvati made me think how it feels to be late. 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.”
Producer Kai Nordberg says: “Sands of Sarasvati marks a new era for Making Movies Ltd. 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. The project hopefully opens us a whole new market in the Indian subcontinent. With the director AJ Annila we are very enthusiastic of bringing this story to movie screens worldwide.”
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Image credits: (l-r) Rakasree Basu (credit Frank Schoepgens), Kai Nordberg, Rachelle Atalla, AJ Annila (credit Sari Aaltonen)