via Cairo International Film Festival
Netflix’s newest film, “The Swimmers,” has just been released on the platform and quickly climbed in popularity to be the number one most-watched film in Egypt. The movie first made its Middle Eastern and North African premiere at the Cairo International Film Festival’s 44th edition. It narrates the inspirational and hardship-filled journey of two Syrian refugees sisters, forced to leave their family behind following the chaos ensuing in Syria post-2010 Arab Spring revolutions.
The movie features gut-wrenching performances by sisters Nathalie and Manal Issa, Ahmed Malek, Kinda Alloush, and others. Coming years after the 2015 Syrian refugee crisis that hit Europe, the film raises awareness of crucial areas for concern relating to millions of refugees still existing today.
via Time
The Real-Life Story of the Mardini Sisters
It may come off as a surprise that all the events showcased in “The Swimmers” are true, considering how brutal, tear-jerking, and unfair some are. But, in fact, they are. Sisters Sara and Yusra Mardini stopped their training at a young age due to violent bombing across Syria – and Yusra did come in contact with a bomb in her club’s swimming pool one day. The sisters also bravely jumped out of an overcrowded dinghy after its engine failed and helped tow the boat a long way across the sea to shore. Several times, the sisters evaded attempts at sexual harassment and capture.
via The Times & Netflix
But similar to how the film’s sorrowful events are fact-based, its inspiring bits are also candid. Yusra Mardini made it to the 2016 Olympics with the training and hospitable help of a German coach, Sven, and she won on behalf of a Refugee Olympic Athletes Team against four other competitors. The entire Mardini family also safely reunited in Germany, and the sisters continue to fight for change and the liberal accommodation of refugees to this day.
The film’s skilful combination of highlighting the extreme lows of the Mardini sister’s life-threatening journey and ending the movie on a happy and inspirational chapter sends out the message to “swim [create change] for everyone who died trying to find a new life – swim for all of us.” The movie also cinematically serves as a remembrance of the forgotten Syrian refugees still trapped in an endless cycle of violence and deadly travel journies today.
