Elisa Viihde Commissions for Estonia and Finland the War Propaganda Satire ‘Helsinki 1939,’ From ‘Shadow Lines’ Creator Aj Annila: ‘It’s Based on True Lies’ (Exclusive)

Soviet Bombs fall on Helsinki. This is 1939. Best-selling Finnish novelist Mika Waltari (“The Egyptian”) fights with his typewriter to create true lies for the Finnish Propaganda Unit to deceive the enemy. Meanwhile war correspondents, including one of the greatest – the American Martha Gelhorn, Ernest Hemingway’s wife to be – chase the truth. Side by side, propagandists and reporters find shelter at Helsinki’s grand neo-Renaissance Hotel Kämp.

These engrossing true events will be dramatized under the pen and direction of Aj Annila in the series “Helsinki 1939,” to be pitched at Tallinn TV Beats Co-financing Market Nov. 17.

The six-part series produced by Take Two Studios’ Eero Hietala and Sara Norberg, has landed an order by leading streaming service Elisa Viihde for Finland and Estonia.

Annila, whose career kicked off with the genre pics “Jade Warrior” (2006) and “Sauna” (2008), has made a name in recent years with high-end character and visually-driven series such…