Reuben Leder's controversial film Baltic Storm had its world premiere in Berlin last week - and, according to Swedish reports, Swedish journalists were banned from the screening.

The film - which stars Donald Sutherland, Greta Scacchi and Jurgen Prochnow - tells the story of a young German journalist who discovers the truth of the sinking of the Estonia in 1994, when 852 people - mostly Swedes - drowned.

Produced by German filmmaker/journalist Jutta Rabe and based on her book about the Estonia, Baltic Storm presents a theory that very much differs from the official Swedish explanation why the ship sank.

While Swedish authorities say that the ship was poorly constructed, Rabe claims that Russian KGB sank the Estonia because it contained top-secret high-technological material that the Russian government was going to sell to the USA. According to Rabe's investigations, the Swedish government knew about this and so systematically tried to conceal the truth.

A Top Story spokeswoman said Swedish journalists were not deliberately barred from the premiere and earlier press screenings. "There was simply a great interest for the film and we had to give priority to German media. There simply weren't enough seats at the screenings."

She added that Swedish journalists would be able to see the film before it is released in Sweden.

The Scandinavian rights have been bought by Scanbox Entertainment. Directed by Reuben Leder, Baltic Storm is a co-production between Babelsberg-based Top Story Filmproduction, Denmark's Smile Entertainment and the UK sales agent IAC.