Film production company Helsinki-filmi has purchased an option for Karin Erlandsson’s children’s book The Pearl Fisher (2017).
The Pearl Fisher is the story of Miranda, who decides to find the most sought-after pearl in the kingdom, the fabled Eye Gemstone. She is accompanied on the adventure by little Syrsa, whose special skill carries greater dangers than either of the girls can foresee.
“To see the world I created transferred to the cinema screen is such a huge dream that I hardly even dare to think about it,” says Karin Erlandsson.
“We at Helsinki-filmi are very excited about the project. Bringing the fantasy world of Erlandsson’s novel to the silver screen will not be an easy task, but that will make the project even more interesting. We are setting about the adaptation of the novel as a movie script with great enthusiasm,” says executive producer Tia Ståhlberg.
The Pearl Fisher begins the four-part Song of the Eye Gemstone series. The Pearl Fisher won the publisher’s children’s book competition and was awarded with the Runeberg Junior Prize. It has also been shortlisted for the Nordic Literature Prize and the Arvid Lydecken Prize.
Next year the series will start to appear in Sweden, co-published by Schildts & Söderströms and Bonnier Carlsen. So far foreign rights have been sold to Estonia and Bulgaria.
Helsinki-filmi is one of Finland’s largest production companies. Its output includes the films Tom of Finland (Dome Karukoski 2017), Dogs Don’t Wear Pants (JP Valkeapää 2019) and Ladies of Steel (Pamela Tola 2020).