Helsinki-based Yle Sales has picked up global distribution rights to “Linda’s Room” (“Lindan huone”), a Finnish YA drama thriller about consent and sexual abuse to be premiered at Cannes’ content market MipTV. The six-part short form series sparked social media hype among local auds when it launched early February on pubcaster Yle and its platform Yle Areena.
The show is being produced by Helsinki-based Komeetta, credited for the Sundance selected shorts “Fucking Bunnies,” “Are You Hungry?” and the Göteborg winning pic “The Missile” and YA short form “Alpha.”
Hot talent Kaya Pakaslahti (“Bathroom Stories”, “Limbo”) is directing, based on a screenplay by Laura Majava.
The story turns on 16-year-old Linda (Lina Muhonen), a junior high student, a passionate boxer who is eager to graduate to enrol into a sports academy. She starts casual dating Kristian (Niko Dahlblom) who is mad about her. Her life would be pretty O.K., if it wasn’t for a stalker who sneaks into her room one night and snaps her diary. Then horror strikes. At a house party, Kristian rapes Linda. The incident pushes Linda towards the trauma of her past.
Producer and Komeetta co-founder Kaisla Viitala says she had worked earlier with screenwriter Laura Majava and was immediately hooked by her bold portrait of sexual violence, which doesn’t victimise the main female character, nor portray the perpetrator as a predator. “The way the object of sexual abuse is treated was new, fresh and thought-provoking,” she toldPvNew.
“”Linda’s Room” is a unique psychological thriller about bringing to light the trauma of sexual abuse, and combatting it in order to open a window to a free life and relationships without fear,” added sales manager Maria Kivinen of Yle Sales.
Underlining the pressing issue on a global level, Kivinen cited a 2023 survey from UN Women, which states that over 30% of girls aged 15+ and women, have experienced sexual violence in their life, and in Finland -one of the most gender-equal countries in the world, the share climbs to a shocking 42%.
Kivinen says the show has received strong interest especially from English-speaking territories and South America.
Yle Sales’ other MipTV highlight is the mini-series “Critical Point’ (“Kriittinen piste”) which premiered on the Finnish pubcaster in February and was pre-sold to AMC Iberia for Latin America.
The three-part series produced by Whatevergroup tells of a Somali teenager (newcomer Fadumo Hersi) who dreams of winning a Winter Olympics medal in ski jumping. Rising talent Kaisa El Ramly is directing.
