Producer Simon Hasler of Relsah Films (@reisahfilms see here) announced that Vindication Swim (@vindicationswimfilm) about the English Channel crossing of Mercedes Gleitze is now streaming for a limited time on Amazon Prime.
Hasler, along with his son Elliott Hasler who wrote and directed the film, and actor Kirsten Callaghan, said, “We are thrilled to announce that Vindication Swim, the inspiring true story of Mercedes Gleitze, the first British woman to swim the English Channel, is now available to stream on Amazon Prime in the UK and Ireland.
Watch and immerse yourself in the cold waters of the English Channel from the comfort of your own home – and please leave us a glowing review on IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes and Amazon. Positive word of mouth helps us immensely in getting this incredible story of grit, determination and resilience out there to the world.”
Watch here.
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.
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.
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