Despite the fact that it is almost 30 years since 852 people died when the passenger ferry sank in the Baltic Sea, the Estonia disaster has never stopped touching, not only for the relatives.
Many have launched their own theories about why the ferry sank, and these days “Vetenskapen värld” on SVT broadcasts a program which in turn critically examines the documentary by Henrik Evertsson, who received the 2020 Grand Journalism Award after launching his own cause of the accident.
Now also comes the first big drama series about Estonia. The series, which premieres behind a paywall on TV4 Play on October 15, has cost almost SEK 200 million to make. It is a co-production between Sweden, Finland and Estonia with actors from all three countries in the roles, including Swedish Katia Winter.
No “Titanic”
But the series is not an action-packed Swedish version of “Titanic”. “Estonia” does contain dramatic scenes from the sinking itself, but that is not the focus of the series.
— Purely spontaneously, it would have felt difficult to compete with American disaster series with the budgets we have in northern Europe. I don’t think it would have worked well, says TV4’s head of drama Piodor Gustafsson about the comparison with “Titanic”.
The Swedish director Måns Månsson has made the Estonia series. Archive image.
Instead, most of the action takes place after the drama on the Baltic Sea with a focus on the relatives, the rescue personnel and above all the work of the accident commission, where conflict quickly arises between the countries’ investigators.
The collaboration with Finland and Estonia has been important for director Måns Månsson.
— I have probably lived in an image as a Swede that this is a Swedish disaster, but it was an eye-opener for me to get these scripts in my hand and seriously understand that it was clearly an equally big Estonian disaster. But also to a fairly large extent a big Finnish event, he says.
The drama in the series is very much about the accident commission’s investigation. Who was responsible for the disaster? Despite decades of commissions, analysis groups and several new investigations, no one has been convicted in court as being responsible for what happened. Something that upsets Måns Månsson after he became familiar with the issue during the preparatory work for the television recording.
“It is unreal that 852 people can lose their lives and that no one bears any responsibility for this,” he says.
Katia Winter plays one of the main roles in “Estonia”. Stock Photo.”Very Loaded”
Even though it is not the focus of the series, the series still contains some scenes from when Estonia sinks. They were difficult to record.
— It is clear that it was very charged. Initially, I was quite convinced that it would not be possible to find actors who even want to portray this, because it was too sensitive and too close, says Måns Månsson.
TT: There are so many people who have their own theories about why Estonia sank. Are you afraid that you will receive criticism from those who believe that you are “darkening the truth”?
— No, I’m not afraid of it at all. I actually feel very confident in what we have done. It has its own place among all the stories somehow shaped out there.
“Estonia” premieres on TV4 Play on October 15 and comes to the TV4 channel on October 30.