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PRODUCTION Finland

Oksanen’s Purge to shoot in Estonia

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Finnish author Sofi Oksanen’s novel, Purge - which last year received the Nordic Council Literary Award, the European Book Prize 2010 and has been translated into 38 languages - is on its way to the big screen.

Earlier this month, Finnish director Antti Jokinen began principal photography on location in Estonia, where the drama takes place - from before the Stalinist deportations in 1949, up to the country’s independence in 1991.

Starring Laura Birn, Liisi Tandefelt, Amanda Pilke, Tommi Korpela and Peter Franzén – with several major parts yet to be announced – Purge intertwines the lives of Aliide, a villager, and Zara, a victim of human trafficking, who are linked by deceit, desperation and fear.

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A broadcast and film graduate from East Carolina University in the US, Jokinen is widely acclaimed for his music videos (Céline Dion, Wyclef Jean, Westlife). His first feature was the UK-US produced The Resident, with Hilary Swank and Christopher Lee in the leads.

Scripted by Marko Leino and Jokinen, the Finnish-Estonian co-production is staged by Finnish producer Markus Selin’s Solar Films Inc. Oy, with Estonia’s Taska Film and is supported by the Finnish Film Foundation the Estonian Film Foundation and the MEDIA programme.

Shooting in Estonia will be completed in December. Nordisk Film & TV AS (NO)Finland will release the film domestically in September 2012, while Denmark’s TrustNordisk handles international sales.

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