Finland’s Tekele Releases “Transport” Trailer, Movie, and TV Slate

Helsinki-based Tekele has unveiled the international trailer for its first premium crime drama “Transport,” which is up for this year’s Nordisk Film & TV Fond award for Best Nordic Television Script. The prestigious award will be presented on February 2 during the two-day TV Drama Vision conference in Gothenburg.

Created and directed by Europa Prize winner Auli Mantila (“Silver Stars”), “Transport” is covered by REIvent International.

The eight-part series delves into the criminal activity of horsemeat trafficking and money laundering in Europe. It’s about ordinary people, under pressure, getting involved as best they can, while a young journalist investigates the case of a microchip found in baby food. Headlined by Emmi Parviainen (“Shadow Lines”), Maria Heskanen (“Everlasting Moments”), Ville Virtanen (“Bordertown”) and Geert van Rampelberg (“De Infiltrant”).

“Transport” is the first major European premium TV show produced by the growing Tekele, founded by veteran producer Miia Haavisto (“Tom of Finland”, “The Unknown Soldier”). Speaking of her Belgian co-production partners Jonnydepony, she said: “They are way ahead of us in drama production and having their expertise on board was a real treat.”

Haavisto praises the talent of creator Mantila, a part-time certified European farrier who wrote the story, loosely based on personal experience.

“She had the universe of the story in mind and knew the actors very well. Having Mantila as the sole writer-director saved time and money and brought a cinematic quality to the series. The first on the Finnish pubcaster Yle is scheduled for March 25.

A producer on the move in 2018, Haavisto says her plan for Tekele is to produce a major international TV series, a short-lived local TV series, and one or two feature films each year.

Currently in development is the explosive youth series “The Short Fuse”, produced by Julia Elomäki of Tekele for Yle. The story of bullying and revenge in an elementary school is directed by Petra Lumioksa (“Now That You’re Mine,” “Bull by the Horns”) from a screenplay by new writing talent Janne J. Vanhanen, Pilke Salo and Milla Tuokkola.

On the film side, projects in development include “The Beast Friend”, presented by first writer-director Lauri-Matti Parppei and producer Elomäki in the Discovery section of the Nordic Film Market confab in Gothenburg.

It’s a modern psychosexual fable of co-dependency and abusive relationships between a young woman and a big bear, to be taken as a bedroom drama with touches of horror and magical realism.

“Bus Line 97” is created by Aleksi Delikouras, who is behind the children’s book sensation and TV short “DragonSlayer 666”, sold by Wild Bunch TV.

Set in the multi-ethnic east of Helsinki, where Greek-Finnish Delikouras grew up, the €1.3 million ($1.47 million) youth drama follows a former professional soccer player turned gym teacher, who gets help from her students to get her life back on track. Filming is set to begin this summer on the SF Studios release.

“Viva la Vida”, the second feature film by Ulla Heikkilä (“Eden”), revolves around a family of Finnish expatriates living in southern Spain. The in-development bittersweet drama is co-produced with Spain’s Fasten Films and Denmark’s Snowglobe.

The bigger-budget action-comedy “Get Hartman,” written by Antti Pesonen (“Bordertown,” “Bullets,” “Nymphs”), is also in development. Haavisto produces with Tekele CEO Tia Talli.