At the end of August 2018, Gerold Büschen contacted Einar Magnús following news coverage of the project “Að baki mánans,” previously titled “Svartur sandur,” in the German newspaper Nordsee Zeitung. Upon reading the article, Gerold remembered that his ancestor, Georg Büschen, was the captain of the Friedrich Albert. The Nordsee Zeitung coverage included a call for descendants of the shipwreck survivors to contact Einar Magnús, as he was seeking information about the men, especially their lives after the events in Iceland.
It wasn’t long before Einar Magnús found himself on a plane to Germany for the third time in a short period to meet Gerold. Their conversations revealed that Gerold possessed invaluable documents and knowledge. Gerold invited Einar Magnús and the Radio Bremen film crew to visit him, as Radio Bremen had requested to produce a television and radio program about the project “Svartur sandur.”
At that time, Einar Magnús was working on a detailed summary of the screenplay, known as the Treatment, but certain elements were still missing, particularly first-hand accounts from the shipwreck survivors about their 11 days of hardship on Skeiðarársandur. It was a significant moment when Gerold presented Einar with copies he had made of his ancestor’s memoirs, detailing the captain’s experiences during those ordeals. Georg had written these memoirs three years after the events in Iceland, dedicating them to the three men who had perished.
Almost everyone had forgotten these memoirs existed—except for Gerold. The writings contained a detailed account of the captain’s incredible hardships faced by the men in Iceland.
Published on:
23/11/2018
in the category Screenwriting
