Acclaimed international cast confirmed, as Lagardère Studios Distribution signs global distribution of crime thriller Arctic Circle
The series, to be filmed in Finnish Lapland, has completed its cast with new names. Lead roles will feature Iina Kuustonen, Pihla Viitala and acclaimed German actors Maximilian Brückner and Clemens Schick. The Finnish-German co-production will be directed by Hannu Salonen.
The Finnish-German co-production will start shooting in a studio in Helsinki at the end of November. The production will continue filming on location in Lapland during winter 2018. The series is co-produced by Yellow Film & TV, the largest independent production company in the Nordics, and Bavaria Fiction, one of Europe’s largest production companies.
The worldwide premiere of Arctic Circle will air on Finland’s leading digital entertainment service Elisa Viihde in 2018. National TV rights have been sold to the Finnish Public Broadcasting Company (YLE). Lagardère Studios Distribution has been secured as the international distributor. The series has gained international notice as it was accepted into C21’s Drama Series Pitch Competition and is one of eight finalists who will have the opportunity to pitch their series in London in December.
Operating under House of Lapland, the Finnish Lapland Film Commission is collaborating with the production and has, among other things, provided assistance with location scouting and finding support services.
– Filming of the series will bring a large crew to northern Lapland and create significant income for the area. Acting as the backdrop for the thriller will bring Lapland unprecedented, wonderful coverage around the world, says Anna Niemelä, Film Commissioner from House of Lapland.
– We’re very pleased to see cameras roll on our first Finnish-German co-production. This ambitious new crime thriller brings together an impressive array of acclaimed talent from across Europe both on and off screen, and will deliver a compelling and atmospheric drama with strong appeal for global audiences,” says Milla Bruneau, Executive Producer Yellow Film & TV, and Bavaria Fiction’s Executive Producer Moritz Polter.
Executive Producer at Elisa Viihde, Alan Sim, is excited about filming in Lapland. ”We are very lucky to be shooting our new original series with Elisa Viihde in Finnish Lapland. Lapland provides us with a landscape that has its own unique story, wide open expanses of snow, never-ending vistas, and of course a sky that changes from azure blue to the auroras borealis. Where in the world is there such a unique, beautiful landscape that is still very accessible from across Europe and beyond?”
Arctic Circle is set in the exotic polar region, amidst the icy landscapes of Finnish Lapland. Finnish policewoman, Nina Kautsalo, finds a nearly dead prostitute in an old cabin in the wilderness. The criminal investigation takes a surprise twist, when a deadly virus is discovered in the prostitute’s blood sample. A German virologist, Thomas Lorenz, travels to Lapland to investigate the virus. Nina and Thomas suddenly find themselves in the middle of an exceedingly unusual criminal investigation that ends up forcing them outside the law.
– I want Arctic Circle to be a physical experience. The audience will feel the desolation, the blistering wind, the taste of blood, and the cold; but also the love, warmth, and commitment created by our strong main characters. Arctic Circle will be a visually powerful, high intensity trip into a world full of contradictions and extremes”, says director Hannu Salonen.
The crime thriller will feature an acclaimed cast including Iina Kuustonen (Nurses), Maximilian Brückner (War Horse), Clemens Schick (Casino Royale) and Pihla Viitala (Black Widows). Arctic Circle is executive produced by Milla Bruneau (Nurses) from Yellow Film & TV’s and Bavaria Fiction’s Moritz Polter (Das Boot) and directed by Hannu Salonen (Shades of Guilt). Arctic Circle is directed by the Finnish-born Hannu Salonen, whose recent works include four episodes of the German-Austrian feature film series Murder by the Lake – the episode "Till Death do Them Part" was the most successful movie of the week on the German broadcaster ZDF until now in 2017.
Yellow Film & TV
Milla Bruneau
Executive Producer, COO
+358 40 040 8951
milla.bruneau@yellowfilm.fi
House of Lapland
Anna Niemelä
Film Commissioner
+358 40 820 7575
anna.niemela@houseoflapland.fi
House of Lapland
House of Lapland is a marketing and communications house for the Finnish Lapland. We work to ensure Lapland’s visibility and appeal nationally as well as internationally. Internationally, we concentrate on marketing Lapland as a travel destination, a shooting location and a lucrative location for arctic business.
Yellow Film & TV
Yellow Film & TV is an award-winning TV- and movie production company from Finland owned entirely by the employees. In 23 years they have become the biggest independent production company in the Nordic region. They specialize in scripted TV-production, entertainment, drama, movies and sports programming.
Bavaria Fiction GmbH
Bavaria Fiction (previously Bavaria Fernsehproduktion ) is one the most successful production companies in Europe. The company produces approximately 17 0000 minutes of programming a year and reaches millions of viewers in Germany every week with its favorite shows (Storm of Love, Rosenheim Cops, SOKO Stuttgart, Inga Lindström and Dr. Klein).
Elisa Viihde
Elisa Viihde is the leading digital entertainment service in Finland. Elisa Viihde covers all your entertainment needs – original series, the largest selection of Finnish movies and the latest Hollywood films, an extensive range of TV shows and sports you can't see elsewhere. The service offers subscription video-on-demand services, rental movies, and an extensive range of pay-TV packages. Over 300,000 households enjoy Elisa Viihde entertainment services.
