Word spreads quickly when Jana Kippo (Amanda Jansson) returns to her hometown in Västerbotten to get her alcoholic twin brother straightened out. The energetic sister rolls up her sleeves to deal with her brother's problems, but is soon forced to confront her own.
It's heavy, dark and intense. Sanna Lenken describes it as "emotional action."
"Just like Sanna, I love when things get meaty and there are things at stake, and in this story there is not a single scene that is a transport route. There is always something going on," says Amanda Jansson.
She ranks Karin Smirnoff's debut novel as the strongest reading experience of her life.
I come from a small place myself, so I could identify with how she describes the people and the surroundings and how they talk about each other.
Reunited
She knows Jana Kippo well after playing the same role in Teater Västernorrland's production. In SVT's miniseries, she is reunited with Sanna Lenken, who directed her in the breakthrough series "Tunna blå linjen".
"Back then you were completely green and very worried after every take whether it was good or not. Now there is a completely different self-confidence and security in you," says Lenken.
Karin Smirnoff read the script during the process and was sometimes harsh in her criticism, according to the director. But when she saw the finished series, she liked what she saw.
It was nerve-wracking. She's like Jana Kippo, so she would have said it was crap if she liked it. The fact that she didn't was a relief. I was touched that she was touched.
Worn hard
They describe the filming as both physically and mentally challenging. In the forests of Norrbotten, the TV crew had to cope without electricity and running water, and relieve themselves in an outdoor toilet.
There was zero glamour and a lot of hard work, but to get this atmosphere that we wanted, it wouldn't have been possible to do it anywhere else, says Lenken.
The series features violence, abuse, and sexual assault. These are scenes that are among the most difficult both director and actor have ever filmed.
I am my instrument and I feel these feelings. The body doesn't know that it's pretending. If I cry, it cries, if I panic, it panics. It's fun, but it's been hard work, says Amanda Jansson.
Despite all the darkness, the story also contains warmth and tenderness.
Even if people behave like pigs, there is reconciliation, says Lenken.
The drama series is in four parts, premiering on SVT on December 26. Sanna Lenken directs and Karin Arrhenius is the scriptwriter.
The main roles are played by Amanda Jansson (Jana Kippo), Jakob Öhrman (John) and Rasmus Johansson (Brother).
The series is based on Karin Smirnoff's debut novel of the same name from 2018. The book is the first in a trilogy about Jana Kippo ("We went up with mother", 2019, "Then I went home", 2020).
Karin Smirnoff took over writing the Millennium series from David Lagercrantz in 2021. Smirnoff's first Millennium book, "The Cry of the Sea Eagle," was published in 2022 and was followed up in 2024 with "The Claws of the Locat."
