In a nice change of pace, the Toronto International Film Festival has announced many of its world premieres over the past few weeks instead of one traditional deluge. There is Steven Spielberg’s “The Fablemans,” Michael Grandage’s “My Policeman” with Harry Styles, Clement Virgo’s “Brother,” “Bros” written and starring Billy Eichner, Sanaa Lathan’s “On The Come Up,” and Gina Prince-Bythewood’s “The Woman King” with Viola Davis and Thuso Mbedu. None of those films, however, are set to open an event expected to return to its familiar pre-pandemic red carpet spectacle. That honor now goes to Sally El Hosaini’s “The Swimmer.”
The Netflix release is based on the true story of two young sisters who embark from war-torn Syrian to the 2016 Rio Olympics. The drama stars Manal Issa, Nathalie Issa, Ahmed Malek, Matthias Schweighöfer, Ali Suliman, Kinda Alloush, James Krishna Floyd, and Elmi Rashid Elmi. It was written by the aforementioned El Hosaini (“My Brother the Devil”) and five-time BAFTA Award winner Jack Thorne (“This Is England”).
The film is a rare Working Title production that was not acquired by its corporate parent, Universal Studios.
In a statement, Cameron Bailey, TIFF CEO remarked, “I was deeply moved by the story of these two sisters and wowed by the storytelling. ‘The Swimmers’ was the very best kind of surprise when we saw it this summer — an exciting, epic journey and the arrival of an important filmmaker. I’m thrilled that audiences in Toronto will be the first to discover Sally El Hosaini’s remarkable film, and that this year on our Opening Night we can honour everyone who risks everything to reach a better, safer life.”
El Hosaini added, “I’m ecstatic. What an honour and privilege to open TIFF with the inspirational true-life story of the Mardini sisters. A city as multicultural and diverse as Toronto is the perfect place to debut our film that elevates the visibility and voice of refugees, reminding us that the human capacity to survive is stronger than most of us know.”
Netflix already has a number of films debuting at Venice that are expected to screen at either Telluride and/or TIFF including Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s “Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths,” Andrew Dominik’s “Blonde,” Romain Gravas’ “Athena” and Sebastián Lelio‘s “The Wonder.”
The 2022 Toronto International Film Festival will be held from Sept. 8-10.