Podcasts | The most scandalous things were left out of the Marin audio series, says the director

“No we just hate them [kohtauksia] not written.”

That’s what he says From Sanna Marin main writer and director of the narrative audio series Miira Karhula.

Sanna Marin – millions of followers series was published in Yle Areena on Monday. The drama, which dives into the head of the former prime minister, has drawn praise for its bold approach. At the same time, its authenticity has been criticized.

“There are several questionable and false claims in the series, even though the events themselves proceed almost in the correct order,” writes HS’s political reporter who has followed Marin’s career Teemu Luukka in his analysis.

As an example, Luukka mentions the scene where the characters of Niinistö and Marin decide in December 2021 to guide Finland to join NATO. The scene is invented.

Karhula had not read Luuka’s writing at the time of the interview, so he commented on the criticism in general.

According to the director, separating fact from fiction in a drama series is “very difficult, if not impossible”.

According to Karhula, for example, the press conferences heard in the series are based on real events. Marin’s inner thoughts and the conversations that took place inside the doors of the parliament are imagined in the series.

Drama 30 different people have been interviewed. According to Karhula, they are politicians, researchers in various fields, background influencers of Sdp and other people who know Marin.

Marin himself was not among the interviewees. Nor his business partner Tuulia from Pitkä or his MP colleague Ilmari from Nurmi has not been interviewed according to HS’s information.

Marin was asked to be interviewed several times, says Karhula. Since Marin did not agree, the authors did not request an interview from her ex-spouse either From Markus Räikkö. It wouldn’t have been very fair, says Karhula.

The background interviews revealed scandalous views that are not heard in the audio series, the director reveals. For example, Marin’s political opponents wanted to feed their “own agenda” to the screenwriters.

“Interviewing politicians is always a bit like that,” says Karhula.

According to him, journalistic judgment was used in the series. Karhula himself is a journalist by background and graduated from the University of Tampere with a master’s degree in social sciences from the information studies (now journalism) education program.

The like audio dramas about politics have hardly been heard in Finland. According to Karhula, dramas set in the world of politics have a long tradition in Britain. At the moment, they are quite popular in Sweden and Norway.

Karhula has a background in political satire. He has written and directed a radio show Dr. Raimo – the nation’s Therapist in 2013–2018 and wrote the script Autocrats-television series in 2006–2007.

Karhula’s dream was to turn Marin into a television drama. Producer of Yle Pekka Ruohoranta however, suggested an audio series, as it would be faster to put together.

The drama was produced by Warner Bros., represented by Karhula. Television. Yleisradio handled sound design, studio and distribution.

Karhula thinks that drama can sometimes be even more than fact. With drama, you can say things that, for example, cannot be told with news.

“Someone would never necessarily read a non-fiction book about Marin, but listen to this one,” he states.