Les Nageuses

It's a wonderful story sees two girls become women, when they're forced to up sticks from the place they've been living, as conflict and turmoil takes grip in their land, and democracy, freedom and liberties canned, fighting tides and head winds as they travel with others, who have similar tales of opportunities smothered, with hope and belief that the city of Berlin, will be their spring board, and allow them to swim.

The brave and courageous story of the tenacious Mardini sisters and their cousin Nizar, as they make the perilous journey from Syria to Germany in search of a new life and for one, the hope to swim at the Rio Olympics. Beautifully performances and genuinely inspiring.

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.

Started to watch this film without knowing anything about it, only that it was trending at number 3 on Netflix. I usually switch films off with subtitles but something about this one lured me in. The balance of spoken English and subtitles actually worked for me as the film is about people attempting to cross International borders not all of them speaking the same language.

I was, from the title expecting to see a story about 2 sisters training to be Olympic swimmers. And yes it is, but it's not a feel good story, it is the remarkable true story of a refugee achieving an Olympic dream. Living in my cosy U. K. bubble I had no concept of living in a war torn country and how that drives young people to risk their lives in order that their families can seek refuge in other countries and it has really opened my eyes.

Lesbos was one of my favourite holiday destinations but in the last decade I have begrudgingly avoided it because of refugees landing on it's beaches . I now feel humbled after watching the harrowing depiction of the 'boat' journey. Part way through I almost stopped watching as their journey made me feel more and more uncomfortable as this wasn't going to be a story with a completely happy ending.

There is also an insight into the conditions that refugees live in once they have arrived in Germany. Although not ideal thank goodness there are compassionate countries.

The film felt authentic as there were no big stars in the cast and it seemed credible that they were refugees (the only actor I recognised was the one who played a good looking Doctor in The Good Karma Hospital).

I think there should be more films made from the point of view of refugees as their story needs to be told.

... trying to find a new life. Most of us reading this thankfully live in stable democracies in which the biggest concerns of our lives are inflation, rising interest rates and ever bigger mortgages. We do not really stop to consider others whose lives are upended or stymied by war, genocide and ruthless dictators. Some of us even cast a wary glance at refugees, asylum seekers and even ordinary migrants because they had the apparent audacity to seek a better life in our countries and take our jobs (even if these are jobs no one wanted in the first place, as the COVID-19 pandemic proved).

Although it is not a cinematic masterpiece, The Swimmers tell an ample tale about the dreams and aspirations of every human being regardless of which country or family they are born into; they desire safety, shelter, community and, above all, an environment that supports their growth and allows them to find purpose and meaning in this universe. We all have but a short span of time on this planet and we should thank our lucky stars if we do not have to negotiate psychopathic and narcissistic leaders like Bashar al-Assad who put their own selfish interests before their nation's.

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.