Mikael Marcimain to direct SVT’s Blackwater starring Rolf Lassgård

ITV Studios handles global distribution.

The six-part series Blackwater (Händelser vid vatten) was originally set to roll May 2020, with Pernille August behind the camera. But with Covid forcing the team to postpone the shooting by more than a year, the actor/director had to withdraw from her earlier commitment for “personal reasons”, according to a statement from Swedish pubcaster SVT.

“The series now starts filming on June 7 in Norrbotten, and in order not to delay the series further - and after Pernilla August’s assent - the directing task will be taken over by Mikael Marcimain, who most recently had a great success with the series The Hunt for a Killer for SVT,” said the statement.

Swedish star actor Rolf Lassgård will play one of the title roles in the series adapted by Queen of Hearts’ writer Maren Louise Käehn from the eponymous best-selling crime novel written by Kerstin Ekman.

Apple Tree Productions’ co-founder Piv Bernth said: “We’re proud to have been given the opportunity to recreate this iconic novel as a TV series. The people in Kerstin Ekman's Blackwater universe will be brought to life by some of Sweden's very best actors, and we are delighted to be able to present the series to viewers in 2022.”

The story begins on a Midsummer night in 1970, when two tourists are found murdered in a tent, far up in the mountains of North Sweden, near the small town of Blackwater. The incident intersects four random people’s lives, intertwining their destinies for better and for worse.

Apple Tree Productions’ Swedish arm is producing with Germany’s ARD Degeto for SVT and ARD, co-financing from DR, Yle, NRK, RÚV, and support among others from Nordisk Film & TV Fond.

The series is the second production from ITV Studios-backed Danish production outfit following the Netflix series Equinox.