97th Anniversary of Mercedes Gleitze’s English Channel Swim Celebrated with Vindication Swim Screenings

Two special screenings of the Vindication Swim will honor the 97th anniversary of the English Channel crossing of Mercedes Gleitze. Gleitze, the most prolific marathon swimmer of her generation, was portrayed by Kirsten Callaghan in the film, written and directed by Elliott Hasler and produced by his father Simon Hasler.

Hasler tells the story of Gleitze, the first British woman to conquer the English Channel in 1927. Her journey through cold waters and societal constraints of the 1920’s in England is brought to life in an inspiring and gripping story of determination and legacy.

Callaghan did all the swimming scenes herself. Hasler did not use stunt women, body doubles, green screens, or computer graphics to film or edit the swimming scenes in the English Channel or in the authentic 1920’s pool in Birmingham.

Screening #1 in Brighton – Duke of York’s Picturehouse on October 21st
In partnership with Greenpeace, this special screening will feature a panel discussion with Hasler on his commitment to Net Zero filmmaking and the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) values of Relsah Films.

Screening #2 in Edinburgh – Cameo Picturehouse on October 24th
Presented by online coaching platform Swimmr founder and Scottish Olympic silver medalist Dan Wallace (@danwallace93), this screening will include a panel discussion about the environmental issues raised in the film, as part of Picturehouse’s Green Screen programme.

Tickets are here for Brighton and here for Edinburgh.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Environmental Perspective

Elliott said, “We did not use one single-use plastic in the making of this film. We localized everything that we could and made sure that we were low-impact on every aspect of maintaining and preserving the environment. Our oceans, and indeed the English Channel, have suffered a lot in recent years so it was very important to us, as we were utilizing this incredible environment, that we didn’t have any negative impact upon it.”

Breaststroke versus Freestyle

During the movie, Gleitze was filmed using both breaststroke and freestyle in swimming across the English Channel and in her training, both in the Thames and in the Victorian swimming pool where Gleitze trained in the 1920’s.

But, Elliott reminds us, “Mercedes only used breaststroke in her channel crossings and marathon swims. She didn’t use freestyle. But there were scenes where I thought filming her using freestyle were more appropriate because the speed and dynamism of the scene was enhanced.”

Youthful Inspiration

Elliott was 18 years old when he first heard of Gleitze and the remarkable life she led. Elliott was born in the same hometown was in Brighton on the south coast of England, about an hour south of London. He loves retelling and recruiting stories of remarkable people – and Elliott researched everything that he could about the first person to swim the Strait of Gibraltar between Spain and Morocco, who crossed from Robben Island to Cape Town in South Africa, and becam the first British woman to swim the English Channel.

He started writing the screenplay at 18 and filmed the entire movie – by himself – over the next three years: the street scenes, the channel swimming scenes, the bar scenes, the work environment and boss encounter, the shoreline, the post-swim inquisition hearings, the intense discussions – both indoors and outdoors – between Gleitze, her coach Harold Best played by John Locke, and rival swimmer named Edith Gade who was played by Los Angeles-based Victoria Summer.

Gade was a character who fictionalized the real Dr. Dorothy Cochrane Logan whose hoax swim called into question Gleitze’s actual 1927 crossing that led to Gleitze having to repeat her channel crossing attempt under difficult conditions in late October 1927.