Tina Gharavi, founder of Bridge + Tunnel Productions and best-known as the BAFTA and Sundance-nominated director of I Am Nasrine as well as for directing Jada Pinkett Smith’s four-part Netflix series African Queens: Cleopatra and the upcoming romantic comedy Virginia Woolf’s Night and Day – currently in production with a stellar cast that includes Jack Whitehall, Jennifer Saunders, Timothy Spall, Haley Bennett and Lily Allen – is set to add showrunner to her extensive list of credits as a director, screenwriter and artist, with her new Scandi Noir drama series The Fox.
The Fox is based on Sólveig Pálsdóttir’s Icelandic best-seller Refurinn, one of her Ice & Crime series thrillers featuring detective Guðgeir Fransson. Gharavi, who has a passion for both Nordic Noir and stories about outsiders, bought the rights to the book from the author and spent time with her learning the origins of each character. Gharavi then set about writing a pilot script for the six-part series, in which she also introduces a new British character – a rare female anti-hero who is a brilliant, terrible and complex woman, loosely based on “Fitz” (Robbie Coltrane) from Cracker and real-life feminist and activist Germaine Greer.
A Sri Lankan woman arrives in a small Icelandic outpost. When she suddenly disappears, it arouses the suspicions of Guðgeir, a suspended detective from Reykjavik trying to win back his family, reputation and job. Also washed up in town is Greer, a disagreeable, retired British Chief Superintendent who is (unsuccessfully) pursuing obscurity. Guðgeir enlists Greer’s help to find the missing “dark woman” and figure out how someone so conspicuous could vanish without a trace. Set against the wildfire of a local opiate crisis, The Fox is a smouldering, tense, character-driven drama which presents a world and characters that never fail to surprise against a spectacular, otherworldly landscape and almost supernatural backdrop of the “hidden people” of Nordic folklore.
“I’ve been keen to be a showrunner for some time now, marrying my producer chops, narrative capabilities and love of working with teams. But when the right projects didn’t present themselves, I decided to build my own!” says Tina Gharavi. “I’m a big fan of Nordic Noir and cop shows in general, but The Fox’s themes around refugees, loneliness and belonging, which are explored in this achingly remote landscape, really resonated with me. I am thrilled to have Sólveig Pálsdóttir’s trust and support for my vision for her wonderful novel”
The Fox will be co-produced with Icelandic outfit Polarama (Thin Ice), helmed by Kidda Rokk and Steinarr Nesheim, who will oversee all production in Iceland. The team is keen to explore opportunities in Europe and is also now beginning conversations with potential partners in key territories, including Scandinavia.
Kidda Rokkfou founder of Polarama, comments,“Tina has written an absorbing thriller about people and place that plays to all our strengths as storytellers. Her detective series is quirky, pacey, and populated with captivating characters living and working in a rather unique and specific Icelandic setting that will look spectacular on screen. We are excited to now begin conversations with broadcasters and streamers, confident that the series will be very much in demand with buyers looking for stand-out international drama with universal themes.”
Tina Gharavi is an award-winning, Iranian-born, British-American artist, director and screenwriter, best-known for telling innovative cross-platform stories about misfits, outsiders and rebels, as well as people in extraordinary situations, through the company she founded in Newcastle in 1997, Bridge + Tunnel. Her debut feature, I Am Nasrine, was nominated for a BAFTA. Her TV drama directing credits include The Tunnel (Sky’s adaptation of The Bridge) and Channel 4’s Ackley Bridge. Her documentary projects include Mother/Country for Channel 4. Tina is also known for her interactive digital projects and record-beating museum exhibitions, housed in permanent collections at institutions such as the BFI and MIT. She is also an associate professor in film and digital media at the University of Newcastle.
Bridge + Tunnel also established a base in Los Angeles and Tina directed African Queens: Cleopatra, the four-part season of the Netflix hybrid docuseries executive produced by Jada Pinkett Smith for Westbrook Studios and Nutopia. She is currently directing Virginia Woolf’s Night and Day, starring Haley Bennett (Cyrano, The Girl on the Train), Timothy Spall (Mr Turner, Harry Potter), Elyas M’Barek (This Crazy Heart, Suck Me Shakespeer) and Jennifer Saunders (Death on the Nile, Absolutely Fabulous). Currently shooting in the UK and Germany, the film is written by Justine Waddell and produced by Waddell (Searching For Stradivari), Christopher Figg (Golda, Mandy, We Need To Talk About Kevin), Meg Thomson (Freud’s Last Session, Dot The I, Racing Hearts), Katie Holly (Mr. Malcolm’s List, Vita And Virginia, Love & Friendship), Evan Horan (About Joan, Oddity), Philipp Steffens (God You’re Such A Prick, Racing Hearts) and Julie Link (Misfit). Production companies include Asterisk Films, Piccadilly Pictures, Keeper Pictures, and GLISK with support from Fís Éireann / Screen Ireland.
