J’AIME MARCH/APRIL 2024

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FEATURE An inspiring swim to victory A FILM CELEBRATING THE FIRST BRITISH WOMAN TO SWIM THE ENGLISH CHANNEL HAS BEEN RELEASED TO MARK INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY THIS MONTH - WITH KEY SCENES FILMED AROUND THE MIDLANDS. AMY NORBURY CAUGHT UP WITH VINDICATION SWIM WRITER AND DIRECTOR ELLIOTT HASLER TO DISCOVER MORE VINDICATION SWIM TELLS THE STORY OF CHANNEL SWIMMER MERCEDES GLEITZE In celebration of International Women’s Day on March 8, the much-anticipated biopic Vindication Swim hit cinemas across the UK, taking a deep dive into the extraordinary life of Mercedes Gleitze, who became the first British woman to swim the English Channel in 1927. The film depicts Mercedes’ upstream struggle in overcoming both the cold waters of the English Channel and the oppressive society of 1920s England. However, after a rival comes forward claiming to have accomplished the same feat, Mercedes is forced into battle to retain her record and her legacy. Written and directed by award-winning filmmaker Elliott Hasler, Vindication Swim stars British-Irish actress Kirsten Callaghan in her debut role as Mercedes Gleitze, as well as Darkest Hour and The Favourite star John Locke as Gleitze’s trainer Harold Best, alongside Gosford Park’s James Wilby and Douglas Hodge, star of Joker, The Great and Black Mirror. Notably, key portions of the film were shot at the Aston University Swimming Pool, the Grade II listed gothic renaissance Moseley Road Baths, and the Black Country Living Museum, adding a local touch to this global tale of determination and triumph. This connection not only adds a layer of authenticity to the film, but also reinforces the West Midlands’ place in the broader narrative of Gleitze’s incredible life. “”I stumbled across the story around five or six years ago, and I was just taken by it,” explains writer and director Elliott Hasler. “Mercedes was an incredible woman, and so inspiring, so that just drew me into her story. “We’re also both from Brighton, which gave me a strong connection to Mercedes, as well as the fact that we were born exactly a century apart, so there’s a nice synergy. I felt a connection with her from the start.” Vindication Swim is the result of a several-years-long passion project for 23-year-old Elliott. But the shoot didn’t get off to the best start. 6 www.jaimemagazine.com
“The challenge of filming out at sea was integral to the project; filming at sea is incredibly difficult, and the challenge of going out there and doing everything in the most realistic way possible was a very interesting aspect of the film for me too,” Elliott says. “But on the first day of filming out at sea, everyone was really badly seasick. Conditions weren’t quite good enough to go out but we didn’t have the experience at that point so we went out, and the waves were pretty big, and two or three days afterwards people still felt ill from the motion sickness! “That day was very challenging, and none of it ended up in the film, so it was just a learning curve. But we realised how it was when you’re filming out at sea and could put in measures to help. “We had a great crew and a great cast, and everyone was willing to give their all to make this story come alive. It’s dangerous filming out at sea, and everyone needs to be in sync and work towards the same goal. “You have the weather to contend with, the swell, the tides, so it has to be a well-oiled machine - which it was by the end!” Taking the lead role in the biopic is Kirsten Callaghan in her feature debut, who has garnered critical acclaim for her portrayal as Mercedes. “We held an open casting call for Mercedes, and had a few different actresses audition for the role, but Kirsten Callaghan came in and it was just uncanny,” says Elliott. “She looks exactly like Mercedes, they’re nearly identical, and she just embodied the character traits we were looking for, that sense of determination, resilience and perseverance. All of those things that Mercedes had, Kirsten shares and could bring to the film. It was a no-brainer - Kirsten was the only real choice for the role.” Impressively, Kirsten performed all of her own stunts in the water, undertaking a gruelling three-month KIRSTEN CALLAGHAN AS MERCEDES GLEITZE. PHOTOGRAPHER STUDIO ESSY DIRECTOR ELLIOTT HASLER. PHOTOGRAPHER MARTIN TOMES training schedule before filming began. “Everything within those swimming sequences is real, not tanks, or blue screens, or body doubles,” says Elliott. “It was our aim to really submerge the audience into the waters of the Channel, so they feel as if they are swimming alongside Mercedes on her incredible journey and get to share in her love affair with the water. “Kirsten was adamant that this was the best way to represent Mercedes, her spirit and who she was, and I think that comes across in the film - you can tell that everything is real. It’s as close to a recreation of Mercedes’ actual swim you can get.” With the majority of the action taking place outdoors, and more so at sea, the great - or not-sogreat - British weather had a vital role to play. “Sometimes we’d go out there and get two shots before the weather would change and we’d have to come back in; other days we’d be on the dock and the weather would change before we’d even finished loading the boats so we wouldn’t make it out that day,” says Elliott. “It was very difficult, but when everything came together and we had these magical days when we could get all the shots we needed, it was incredibly rewarding.” “And because of the nature of filming out at sea, we could only do it in the summer www.jaimemagazine.com 7
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