Finnish actor Peter Franzén is to direct and star in the adaptation of his own novel, with backing from the Finnish Film Foundation.

After performing in 67 films and winning three Jussis (Finland’s national film prize), Finnish top actor Peter Franzén will work both in front and behind the camera in his next feature, Above Dark Waters.

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The Finnish Film Foundation has chipped in $0.7 million production support for the adaption of his own first novel, which was published in 2010. He will direct and star in the film, which is being produced by Finland’s leading production company, Solar Films.

It took Franzen six years to write Above Dark Waters about seven-year-old Peter living in a small town in northern Finland who reconnects with his biological father.

Currently casting, Above Dark Waters will be shot by Hena Bolmberg and produced by Markus Selin and Jukka Helle,
on a $1.9 million budget. Principal photography will commence in August, and Finland’s Nordisk Film will handle local distribution.

After playing in the latest instalment of the Vares franchise, Anders Engström’s The Path of the Righteous Men, Franzén has starred in Finnish directors Mika Kaurismäki’s Road North, Simo Halinen’s Pizza Desperata and Antti Jokinen’s Purge, which are yet to be released.