Fisher King, Kärnfilm team up for drama copro based on Estonia disaster

Producers and broadcasters from Sweden, Finland and Estonia are joining forces for a drama series about the sinking of Baltic ferry MS Estonia in 1994, one of Europe’s worst maritime disasters of the 20th century.

Måns Månsson

Estonia (8×45’) will be produced by Finland’s Fisher King in coproduction with Swedish outfit Kärnfilm, Panache Production of Belgium and Estonian Amrion Oü for C More in Finland and Sweden, Sweden’s TV4, MTV in Finland and Telia in Estonia.

Germany’s Beta Film is handling world sales. Fisher King is the Finnish production company of Beta Nordic Studio, which serves as an umbrella for Beta’s production activities in the Nordics.

The event series is being created by Miikko Oikkonen (Bordertown, Helsinki Syndrome) and helmed by award-winning Swedish director Måns Månsson (Snabba Cash, Chernobyl) and Juuso Syrjä (Bordertown).

The producers are Matti Halonen and Johannes Lassila at Fisher King, Martina Stöhr and Petra Jönsson at Kärnfilm and Riina Sildos at Amrion Oü and André Logie at Panache Production. The ewxecutive producers are Piodor Gustafsson (C More) and Jani Hartikainen (MTV Finland).

Production is set to start in spring 2022 with shooting taking place in Finland, Sweden and Estonia.

The character-driven fiction series follows the tragedy through the eyes of survivors, rescuers, family members, politicians, investigators and journalists.

The series shines a light on different angles of the life-shattering accident, follows the international investigation of the disaster and the conspiracy theories which emerged after the confidentiality agreement signed by all investigators and authorities ended in 2019.

The MS Estonia was the largest ship sailing under the flag of the young Republic of Estonia between Tallinn and Stockholm. After leaving Tallinn on September 27, 1994 with almost 1,000 people on board, the cruise ferry was hit by a major storm, causing it to list uncontrolably. The ship sank within an hour, claiming more than 850 lives.

Månsson said: “I’m very humbled and proud to be a part of the upcoming series Estonia. The scripts about the investigation and the reasons behind the accident are truly intriguing and captivating. I’m looking forward to a deep collaboration with the Finish, Estonian and Swedish teams about a tragedy that is still affecting our countries deeply.”