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The Swimmers (2022 film)

The Swimmers
Official release poster
Directed bySally El-Hosaini
Screenplay by
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyChristopher Ross
Edited byIain Kitching
Music bySteven Price
Production
company
Distributed byNetflix
Release dates
  • September 8, 2022 (2022-09-08) (TIFF)
  • November 11, 2022 (2022-11-11) (United Kingdom/United States)
  • November 23, 2022 (2022-11-23) (Netflix)
Running time
134 minutes[1]
Countries
  • United Kingdom
  • United States
Languages
  • Arabic
  • English

The Swimmers is a 2022 biographical sports drama film directed by Sally El Hosaini based on a screenplay co-written by Sally El Hosaini and Jack Thorne. The film stars real-life sisters Nathalie Issa and Manal Issa,[2] Ahmed Malek, Matthias Schweighöfer, Ali Suliman, Kinda Alloush, James Krishna Floyd, and Elmi Rashid Elmi.

The Swimmers had its world premiere at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival on September 8, 2022,[3] and was released in select cinemas on November 11, 2022. It was shown at the evening gala of the Marrakesh International Film Festival on November 18, 2022, before its streaming release on November 23, 2022, by Netflix.

Premise

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The plot follows the life story of teenage Syrian refugees Yusra Mardini and her sister Sarah Mardini, who swam alongside a sinking dinghy of refugees to lighten it, and eventually help 18 refugees reach safety across the Aegean Sea while being smuggled from İzmir towards Lesbos. Subsequent struggles as refugees are vividly depicted, but Yusra Mardini's swimming career sees her reach the Rio 2016 Olympics as a member of the Refugee Olympic Team.

The final credits inform that Yusra's sister Sarah, who had returned to Lesbos as part of voluntary efforts to assist incoming refugees in 2016, had been arrested and faced charges that carried potentially long-term prison sentences, if convicted.[4][5]

Cast

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Production

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In April 2021, it was announced that Manal Issa and Nathalie Issa had been cast to play real-life sisters Yusra and Sara Mardini in The Swimmers for Working Title Films and Netflix.[6]

Principal photography was suspended five days before the start, due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Production began in April 2021, and the film was shot in the United Kingdom, Belgium, and Turkey.[7] Filming locations in Turkey include Istanbul and Çeşme.[8][9]

Manal and Nathalie Issa both learned to swim for their roles.[10]

Manal Issa later criticized the film for orientalism, apoliticism, and failing to cast Syrian actors. She further reported trauma experienced by the cast from filming in the Aegean Sea near refugees trying to cross, as well as low wages for Turkish and Syrian extras.[11]

El Hosaini has stated that they had a duty of care to the cast (in particular those Syrian refugees involved in front of and behind the camera) and that production were able to deliver on that to avoid any traumatizing effects.[12] She has also stated her belief that it was important that refugees were involved because of "the idea of authenticity and letting people be part of the telling of their own story."[13]

In the context of the contemporary refugee crisis, El Hosaini did not just want to present the story of the Mardini sisters and the other refugees. Rather, her intention was to show in a realistic style, what refugees are going through in real life. In an interview about the film, Yusra Mardini said, "After the Olympics, I realised that it's not just my story anymore. I realised that my responsibility is to raise awareness and bring hope to millions of refugees around the world and speak for all of those who do not have a voice."[14]

In another interview, Yusra explains "We wanted it to be as authentic as possible… We knew that there would be elements of fiction but we really wanted our authentic story to be out there. In the end they are talking about us. It is our life story. When we watched it, it was just very, very good. Even if the situation did not happen exactly the way it is depicted, it did happen, or it did happen to other refugees and that was the main point."[15]

Release

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The Swimmers had its world premiere as the opening film at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival on September 8, 2022,[3] and was released in select cinemas on November 11, 2022, before its streaming release on November 23, 2022, by Netflix.[16]

Reception

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On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a score of 82% based on 62 reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "The Swimmers can be heavy-handed and it's arguably too long, but it handles a worthy topic with generally uplifting results."[16] On Metacritic, the film holds a score of 62 out of 100, based on 15 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[17]

The film has been praised for "attempts to challenge reductivist Western framings of refugee's identities"[18] and how it "placed importance on Arab culture."[19]

Accolades

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Award Date of ceremony Category Recipient(s) Result Ref.
British Academy Film Awards February 19, 2023 Outstanding British Film The Swimmers Nominated [20]

References

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  1. ^ "The Swimmers". Toronto International Film Festival. Retrieved July 27, 2022.
  2. ^ "Meet the Cast of 'The Swimmers'". Netflix Tudum. Retrieved November 28, 2022.
  3. ^ a b "The Swimmers chosen as Toronto International Film Festival opening night gala film". The Globe and Mail. July 27, 2022. Retrieved November 17, 2022.
  4. ^ "Humanitarian volunteers detained in Lesvos must be released". irr.org.uk. November 8, 2018. Retrieved December 2, 2022.
  5. ^ "Volunteer migrant rescuers on trial in Greece". www.independent.co.uk. November 18, 2021. Retrieved December 2, 2022.
  6. ^ Roxborough, Scott (April 20, 2021). "Real-life Sisters Cast to Star in Netflix/Working Title Drama 'The Swimmers'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved April 20, 2021.
  7. ^ Ramachandran, Naman (April 20, 2021). "Netflix, Working Title Begin Production on Sally El Hosaini's 'The Swimmers' (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved April 20, 2021.
  8. ^ "'The Swimmers' filminde Çeşme, Rio sahilleri olarak gösterildi". Cumhuriyet (in Turkish). December 13, 2022. Retrieved December 13, 2022.
  9. ^ "Çeşme'de çekilen 'The Swimmers' Netflix'te top 10'da". İzmir Gazetesi (in Turkish). December 13, 2022. Archived from the original on December 21, 2022. Retrieved December 13, 2022.
  10. ^ Vlessing, Etan (September 9, 2022). "TIFF: 'The Swimmers' Stars Manal, Nathalie Issa on Learning to Swim for Their Roles". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved January 12, 2025.
  11. ^ "The Swimmers: Lead actor hits out at 'orientalist cliches and mistreatment'". Middle East Eye. Retrieved July 27, 2024.
  12. ^ Ford, Lucy (July 28, 2023). "The Swimmers producers Sally El Hosaini and Hassan Akkad: "We don't have a refugee crisis, we have a racism crisis"". British GQ. Retrieved January 12, 2025.
  13. ^ "'The Swimmers' tells the true story of two refugee sisters who did something extraordinary". InfoMigrants. January 19, 2023. Retrieved January 12, 2025.
  14. ^ Hunstig, Maria (October 21, 2022). "Breaking The Surface: An Audience With The Mardini Sisters & Their Onscreen Counterparts In "The Swimmers"". British Vogue. Retrieved December 15, 2022.
  15. ^ "Sisters Sara and Yusra Mardini On The Swimmers, Survival, and Their Syrian Roots | Harper's Bazaar Arabia". January 3, 2023. Retrieved January 12, 2025.
  16. ^ a b "The Swimmers". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved November 25, 2022.
  17. ^ "The Swimmers Reviews". Metacritic. Red Ventures. Retrieved November 25, 2022.
  18. ^ Gatter, Melissa (2023). "Going beneath the surface: The subtler messages about forced displacement in 'The Swimmers'". Allegra Laboratory.
  19. ^ Jaber, Aia (January 9, 2023). "Swimming across the Aegean Sea—an analysis of The Swimmers". The Medium. Retrieved January 12, 2025.
  20. ^ Ntim, Zac (January 19, 2023). "BAFTA Film Awards Nominations: 'All Quiet On The Western Front', 'Banshees Of Inisherin' & 'Everything Everywhere All At Once' Lead — The Complete List". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved January 19, 2023.
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