British swimmers, coaches, pilots, support crew members, fans, kayakers, paddlers, pace swimmers, handlers, seconds, navigators, physios, therapists, family members, teammates, and fans have enjoyed the opening weekend of the Vindication Swim.
Over 100 cinemas across the UK are now showing the highly acclaimed Vindication Swim about the life, challenges, and hardships faced by channel swimming icon and International marathon Swimming Hall of Fame Honor Swimmer Mercedes Gleitze. The film opened on International Women’s Day to sold out cinemas, breaking into the Top 20 at the UK Box Office. Elliott Hasler, the young writer and director becomes the first person born this century (born in 2000) to achieve such a feat.
- Picturehouse Clapham Q&A
- Regal Picturehouse – Henley Q&A
- Tyneside Cinema – Newcastle Q&A
- Cinema City – Norwich Q&A
- The Light – Sittingbourne Q&A
- The Light – Addlestone
- The Light – Banbury
- The Red Carpet Cinema – Barton-under-Needwood
- Vue – Basingstoke Festival Place
- Showcase – Bluewater London
- Ritz – Belper
- The Light – Bolton
- Vue – Bolton
- Odeon – Bournemouth
- Duke of York’s Picturehouse – Brighton
- Odeon – Brighton
- Picturehouse – Bromley
- Vue – Bristol Longwell Green
- Showcase – Bristol
- Vue – Bury The Rock
- The Light – Cambridge
- Vue Cheshire – Oaks
- Chichester Cinema – New Park
- Picturehouse – Clapham
- Curzon – Canterbury Westgate
- Showcase Cardiff
- Showcase – Coventry
- Barn – Dartington Trust
- Derby QUAD
- Showcase – Dudley
- Robert Burns Centre Film Theatre – Dumfries
- Movies@ – Dundrum, Ireland
- Movies@ – Dungarvan, Ireland
- Picturehouse Ealing
- Vue Edinburgh Omni Centre
- The Poly – Falmouth
- The Silver Screen Cinema – Folkestone
- Eye Cinema – Galway, Ireland
- Showcase – Glasgow
- Peak Film Society – Glossop
- Mallard Cinema – Guernsey
- Electric Palace Cinema – Hastings
- Odeon – Hastings
- Halls – Haslemere
- Picturehouse – Henley
- Kavanagh – Herne Bay
- Vue – Hull
- Cineworld – Jersey
- Odeon – Kingston
- Corn Exchange – King’s Lynn
- Curzon – Knutsford
- Keswick Alhambra
- Vue – Leeds, The Light
- Showcase – Liverpool
- Showcase – Leeds
- Odeon – Leicester
- Depot – Lewes
- Vue – London, Finchley Road (O2)
- Vue – London Westfield (Shepherds Bush)
- Vue – London Westfield Stratford
- Odeon – Loughborough
- The Palace – Malton
- Movies @ – Malmesbury
- Odeon – Manchester Great Northern
- Vue Manchester Printworks
- Loewen – Maplethorpe
- The Torch – Milford Haven
- Regal – Melton Mowbray
- The Corn Exchange – Newbury
- Lighthouse – Newquay
- The Light – New Brighton
- Odeon Norwich
- Showcase – Paisley
- Lonsdale Alhambra – Penrith
- Number 8 – Pershore
- Showcase – Peterborough
- Vue – Plymouth
- Cineworld Poole
- Vue – Portsmouth
- Showcase – Reading
- Vue – Romford
- The Light – Sheffield
- Old Market Hall – Shrewsbury
- The Light – Sittingbourne
- Stephen Joseph Theatre – Scarborough
- The Odyssey – St Albans
- White River Cinema – St Austell
- Merlin Cinemas – St Ives
- The Light – Stockport
- Vue Swindon
- Odeon – Southend
- Movies@ – Swords, Ireland
- Showcase – Teeside
- Vue – Thanet
- Regal – Tenbury Wells
- Vue – Torbay
- Plaza Cinema – Truro
- Film Theatre – Tyneside
- Magic Lantern – TYWYN
- Regal Cinema – Wadebridge
- Corn Exchange – Wallingford
- The Light – Wisbech
- Dome Cinema – Worthing
- Odeon Wimbledon
- Kinema – Woodhall Spa
- ARC – Yarmouth
- Vue- York
Producer Simon Hasler said, “All sea scenes were filmed in the English Channel and our hope for the film is to bring back the legacy of Mercedes Gleitze, a woman mostly lost to history outside of the swimming world. Because of the film’s achievements thus far, Mercedes is now recognized by Swim England’s Hall of Fame, where she was inducted on Friday.“
Hasler continues, “A must see film for all swimmers and seafarers, the entire production of the film involved no single use plastics and a number of low carbon initiatives to produce one of the most ESG compliant films ever made. Elliott has proven to be a young pioneer of sustainable film making, which he plans to drive forward on future films.“
Trio of Channel Swimming Films
Vindication Swim with its young film star Kirsten Callaghan is now going head-to-head against two other channel swimming films portraying female protagonists with leading stars: Netflix’s Nyad with Annette Bening and Jodie Foster and the soon-to-be-released Disney’s Young Woman and the Sea with Daisy Ridley.
Why These Women and Why These Swims?
Vindication Swim highlights the challenges faced with Mercedes Gleitze to prove herself to a disbelieving community and media.
Nyad shows the four failures and final success of swimming from Cuba to Florida by Diana Nyad
Young Woman and the Sea tells the story of Gertrude Ederle, the first woman to swim across the English Channel.
Gleitze and Ederle – who were global celebrities after their major swims – faced overwhelming societal pressures and suffocating attitudes that were imposed upon them simply based on her gender and the accepted assumptions of the 1920’s and 1930’s. Nyad was, conversely, well known before she did her attempts, but she was in her 60’s when she picked up her dream. Ageism came into play, whether spoken or unspoken.
All three women showed various levels of intensity and relentless determination to succeed – the same characteristics and mindset that has enabled contemporary swimmers like Sarah Thomas, Jaimie Monahan, Sally Minty Gravett, MBE, Pat Charette-Gallant, Sue Oldham and Edna Llorens to succeed in channels and lakes.
Hasler explains, “It was our aim to really submerge the audience into the waters of the English Channel and in that way hope to pay homage to the spirit of this incredible woman. So everything you see on screen is real, all shot without the use of tanks, green screens or body doubles, all swimming scenes were shot in the English Channel.
I want audiences to feel as if they are swimming right alongside Mercedes on her incredible journey and share in her love affair with the water.“
Steven Munatones observes, “I do not see these three films in competition with one another. They offer a complementary release where the three films are creating a global awareness and interest that only one of them could not possibly generate as a stand-alone film. Each film tells a compelling story of a unique individual that, taken together, creates a magical time in our sport.“
Mission accomplished.
If modern-day women – or men – of any age or walk of life wants inspiration and are looking to motivation to develop hard-nosed grit, these films deliver…in abundance and then some.
The Film
Vindication Swim stars Kirsten Callaghan who portrays Gleitze and John Locke who portrays her coach Harold Best.
Produced by Relsah Films with Sally Humphreys, Douglas McJannet and Simon Hasler and written and directed by Elliott Hasler, the film will be launched on International Women’s Day. Callaghan and Locke are joined by Victoria Summer, James Wilby, and Douglas Hodge. The film is scored by Emmy winner and Grammy nominee, Daniel Clive McCallum, with post-production completed at Warner Bros. De Lane Lea Studios.
For additional details of the film, visit here. The film website is here.
Gleitze (1900-1981) was a British pioneer and marathon swimmer from London who is a dual inductee having been voted by the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame as an Honor Swimmer in it Class of 1969 and the International Swimming Hall of Fame as an Honor Open Water Pioneer Swimmer in its Class of 2014.
For more information and updates, visit Vindication Swim Film here.
© 2024 Daily News of Open Water Swimming
“to educate, enthuse, and entertain all those who venture beyond the shoreline“