Released on its platform Netflix a few days ago and is already at the top of the subscriber preference list. And all because of the real story that inspired the scriptwriters to create the film.

Movie Netflix»Swimmers(The Swimmers) follows the true story of two Syrian sisters who leave their war-torn country to compete in the 2016 Olympics in Rio.

The Mardini sisters, Yusra and Sarah (played by Natalie and Manal Issa in the film), became famous for their thorny story of survival and heroism, having escaped the civil war in Syria a year earlier.

The film, which “illuminates” the terrible conditions in which thousands of refugees find themselves around the world, is not just another sports story brought to the screen, but something much more.

They fought the icy waves of the Aegean

During their journey, the sisters arrived in Turkey by plane, hoping to travel to Germany by boat via Greece. They were battling the icy waves of the Aegean when the engine of an overloaded boat with 18 other asylum-seekers on board suddenly stalled. The Mardini sisters jumped into the water without hesitation, grabbed the ropes along with two other passengers, and used their swimming skills to save everyone. That day, a 45-minute boat ride turned into a three and a half hour swim.

When they finally arrived in Germany, Yusra was determined to keep pursuing her dream. With the help of swimming coach Sven Spankrebs, he was able to represent the IOC Refugee Olympic Team at the 2016 and 2020 Olympics.

Meanwhile, Sarah decided to change her mind and, leaving behind her swimming ambitions, began volunteering in Greece to help refugees – like herself – get safely by sea to their destination.

Creation of “Swimmers”

In general, the script of the film is very close to the real story, the production involves the Mardini sisters, although Yusra was not initially interested in the idea of ​​​​making a film.

Early in the development of the film project, screenwriter Jack Thorne met with Yusra and her coach Sven to tell him his story. But he quickly realized that the film needed to focus more on the relationship between the two Mardini brothers, so he asked to be introduced to him and Sarah.

“We were sitting in a room and they started telling me about what they had been through. But the perspective didn’t feel right to me because it’s the story of Yusra and Sven,” Thorne told the Radio Times website. “I didn’t know much about Syria or what it means to be a refugee, but I know what it means to be a brother.” He added: “So I asked, ‘Who is Sarah and when can I meet her?’ I wanted to challenge the idea of ​​what a refugee looks like and what he can say.”

The film begins with a brief description of the life of Yusra and Sara before the start of the civil war. He then jumps forward four years to show that the disaster is now part of their daily lives. This includes the fact that they narrowly escaped the bomb blast. This fact prompted them to embark on a perilous journey in search of relative safety in Europe, a journey in which they would have to face all sorts of difficult conditions.

Producer Tilly Goulson explained that “the cast made several trips to meet the two sisters” to make sure these parts of the film looked authentic, explaining that “the research was really thorough, so it helped Jack a lot when he first started planning the film” .

The heroism of the Mardini brothers

When Sally El Hosseini, who until then had only casually met the Mardini sisters, took over the leadership, she immediately set out to explore “the types of young women who live in the Middle East but whose stories never reach the public.” our screens. The film, which also contains fantasy elements, is about a heroine who becomes an Olympic champion “but also an unsung heroine, a sister in the shadows who doesn’t achieve the same but keeps doing something equally heroic.”

The director said, “What I really like is that we see the difficult aspects in their relationship: the jealousy, the reciprocity, and the resentment that they have.”

To give the film even more credibility, El Hosseini contacted BAFTA-winning Syrian director Hassan Aqad via a private message on Twitter. “There had to be an original, authentic and truthful result, and Sally gave me the freedom to use the words that Syrian women use in their conversations,” Hasan explained.

According to Radio Times, Netflix