- Festivals
“The Swimmers” – Opening Night TIFF 2022 Film
The opening night film at TIFF, The Swimmers, is a soaring epic that dramatizes the true story of Yusra and Sarah Mardini, two sisters who left their home in war-torn Syria for a new life in Europe and a chance to compete in the 2016 Summer Olympics. At the red-carpet premiere in Toronto, audiences were enthusiastic to welcome, not just the cast – including twin sisters Manal and Nathalie Issa who played the Mardini sisters, and German actor Matthias Schweighöfer, who played their European Olympic swim coach, Sven Spannekrebs – but also to hear from their real-life counterparts, who spoke to press the following morning about the surreal experience of having a movie made about one’s own life.