Les Nageuses

Had the privilege to attend the European premier of the movie which will come to Netflix on 23rd of November. The movie is a very nicely paced dramatization of an amazing human achievement and story, it's amazing because of the nature how far they came along and its amazingly human because they've did it sheerly as human beings nothing more. You could even profanely say as "superheroes" to quote the movie directly. Nothing super fancy directing and editing here, just purely nice narration and sequencing of events dramatization and this is being done nicely by the director Sally El Hosaini. But the real magic and chemistry lies between the two lead actresses Manal and Nathalie Issa who are siblings in real life as well not just on the screen; this chemistry between them gives you the passionate punch which delivers effectively indeed. This movie is definitely an underdog testament, a very good one.

With bombs and soldiers swarming around their home in Damascus, sisters Yusra and Sara decide to flee to Europe in pursuit of a better life. As highly competitive swimmers the girls were training to compete in the Olympics. Now instead of swimming in a pool, Yusra and Sara are trying out the Mediterranean. Other obstacles threatening to pull them under include a broken-down raft overloaded with passengers, barbed wire fences, dogs, police, and criminals eager to profit from desperate refugees. Still, the greatest currents that they are swimming against are in themselves.

This miraculous true story sheds light on a pressing global issue. Over 6 million refugees fled from Syria since 2011. Following the story of Yusra and Sara helps us to understand the issues that refugees face. The actors are sisters in real life, so their chemistry is authentic and comes from spending a lifetime together. It is heartwarming to witness Yusra and Sara holding onto life and their love for each other. The filmmakers are no slouches themselves, and there are some amazing scenes including a dance sequence in an empty warehouse.

This movie touched me deeply. The Swimmers is a story about humanity, perseverance, love and hope. About family. In the realest way. The fact that all of this happened is unbelievable, and the fact it happened and keeps happening so much (meaning war and refugees) is heartbreaking to me. In our western world we tend to forget. So I'm grateful for this movie to bring forward this message. Even more grateful to have done this in such a beautiful and respectful way. The script is amazing, the cinematography is amazing and so are the actors. This is my first IMBd review and I just had to write it.

I did not know this story. It is very powerful and deserves to be told. I really enjoyed the performance of the Mardinis and I was glad to learn that they are sisters also in real life. Before watching it, you should consider that It is not an easy movie: a couple of times it is like a punch in the stomach. However I strongly recommend the vision. It is not easy to find a film on this subject that does not fall into stereotypes. The movie achieve its goal well and it helps you to exercise the empathy muscle. Several times I thought that I was very lucky to be born in a certain part of the world.

I needed to give this movie 9 stars out of 10, because it has such an important message. What are we doing with our world? Why do we let greed divide us? Why is it so important to wage war around every corner?

This is an eye opening experience. To hear about refugees crossing the oceans in little boats and visually seeing what can happen is very different. Obviously it is very hard to get every suffering soul into Europe or the US, there are just too many, but this is why it is even more important to bring education and wealth into every corner of the world.

It is important to have movies about fantasies, about princesses, about interesting stories, but it is maybe even more important to shine the light on unspeakable circumstances. So thanks a lot for this movie, thank you for a beautiful performance from the Issa sisters and thank you for human beings like the Mardini sisters.