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Emmi Itäranta is one of the most internationally successful contemporary Finnish authors. Her first novel MEMORY OF WATER is published in 23 territories, and filming of the movie has begun this fall.
The Moonday Letters by award-winning author Emmi Itäranta, focuses on big themes. It is dedicated to all those who have lost their homes. Itäranta worked on The Moonday Letters for three and a half years while the world went through increasing turmoil. The climate crisis grew more urgent, authoritarianism and populism gained more ground in world politics. The novel did not strive to directly reflect these issues, but they could not help but filter into the fictional reality of the book.
Emmi Itäranta tells about the writing process:
“Years ago my editor cleverly planted the idea in my mind that there were not many space operas by Finnish authors, and that it might be interesting to see some. The thought began to take root. In January 2017 the first image of the story emerged in my imagination: a woman is sitting in a coffee shop on the Moon, watching Earth from there and thinking that she can never return to her home planet. The image spoke to me not only of a future world, but also of loss and longing for home. The book grew around these themes.” “And on top of it all I completed the book in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic.”
“As I was putting the finishing touches on the book, the parallels with the current reality took even me by surprise.” Itäranta, who lives in the United Kingdom and is currently visiting Finland, says The Moonday Letters portrays first and foremost the grief of losing Earth, the only home of the human species, as it was.
“I believe we are already living in the middle of this grief in relation to the loss of biodiversity and the climate crisis that we see all around us. I also believe it is possible and meaningful to process these feelings of loss through fiction.”
Film news: Memory of Water feature film, based on Emmi Itäranta’s novel, now in production!
We are very happy to let you know that MEMORY OF WATER now started filming in and around Tallinn, Estonia for Finland’s established production outfit Bufo, after more than five years in the making and a three-month shoot delay due to Covid-19.
The shoots are set to continue in Germany and Norwegian Lapland later this year
The film is based on the eponymous novel by Emmi Itäranta that has already sold to 22 countries. World English rights are held by HarperCollins.
The translation rights are still available for Albania, Croatia, Greece, Iceland, Indonesia, Israel, Macedonia, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia etc.
Ask for the full English manuscript of Memory of Water by clicking here.
The story centres on a young woman who finds courage to start a battle over fresh water in the Scandinavian Union, a land dried by eco disasters and controlled by a harsh military government.
ABOUT THE FILM:
The stellar cast for the film comprises Saga Sarkola (Thicker Than Water, Maria’s Paradise), Mimosa Willamo (Aurora), Pekka Strang (Dogs Don’s Wear Pants, Tom of Finland), and Lauri Tilkanen (Deadwind, Ladies of Steel) among others. Depending on travel restrictions, filming is set to move from Estonia to Germany and Norwegian Lapland.
Memory of Water is one of Bufo’s most ambitious projects ever, with a €3.5 million budget. The film is co-produced by Germany’s Pandora, Norway’s Mer Film, Estonia’s Allfilm, with co-financing from Yle, NRW, support from the Finnish Film Foundation, Nordisk Film & TV Fond and Creative Europe.
The premiere via Bufo’s own distribution arm B-Plan is scheduled for 2021.
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Exactly ten years ago on June 9th 2009 the Agency was founded by Elina Ahlbäck.
As it was 10 years ago, our mission is to represent the best of Finnish literature, and be the leading Nordic agency to export Finnish authors’ works world-wide – and to ten-fold the literature exports!
We are excited to do a celebration round-up of our recent sales!
Film news:
A dystopian drama, based on Emmi Itäranta’s novel Memory of Water has received production support. The Production company is Bufo. Read more.
Fiction news:
The Ice-Cream Man by Katri Lipson has been sold to Germany to Schenk Verlag. Read more.
Non-Fiction news
Rahva Raamat bought Estonian rights to a nonfiction title The Meaning of Your Life by Frank Martela – rights sold to 6 territories now. Read more.
Euromedia acquired Czech rights to Lotta Sonninen’s hilarious activity book: The Little Book of Bad Moods for Mothers. Read more.
Children’s news
Rahva Raamat has acquired the Estonian rights to The Little Mouse series by Riikka Jäntti. Their 6-book-offer included the upcoming part Little Mouse’s Summer which will be published in 2020.
In Sweden, Hegas has bought rights to the first two books of Magdalena Hai’s hilarious horror series: The Little Shop of Nightmares. Read more.