''The Swimmer'' is a 2021 Israeli

sports drama A sports film is a film genre in which any particular sport plays a prominent role in the film's plot or acts as its central theme (arts), theme. It is a production in which a sport or a sports-related topic is prominently featured or is a focus o ...

written and directed by Adam Kalderon. Omer Perelman Striks stars as Erez, a

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late ...

competitive swimmer, grappling between desire and success. The film premiered at the

Jerusalem Film Festival The Jerusalem Film Festival (, ) is an international film festival held annually in Jerusalem, It was established in 1984 by the Director of the Jerusalem Cinematheque and Israeli Film Archive, Lia van Leer, Lia Van Leer, and has since become th ...

on 30 August 2021.

Plot summary

Erez (Perelman Striks), a hot talent in the local swimming scene, enrolls at a tough training camp to further his dreams. Erez is pitted against the other swimmers, with the winner set to represent Israel at the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

. He develops a strong physical attraction towards Nevo, his rival at the camp. This attraction will unravel his ambitions and focus in the swimming pool.

Cast and characters

*Omer Perelman Striks as Erez *Asaf Jonas as Nevo Yasur *Roy Reshef as Nadav *Nadia Kucher as Paloma *Gal Ben Amra as Yoav *Igal Reznik as Dime

Reception

The film was well received by critics and holds a 92% "fresh" rating on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

. Kyle Turner of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' wrote that Kalderon: "renders his film “The Swimmer” with style and rich psychology." Turner continued: “Kalderon finds the intensity of desire and competition in the cracks of the statue." Carlos Aguilar of the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'' praised it as "a brightly colored and cleverly erotic queer sports drama." Perelman Striks was awarded the Best Actor award at the

in 2021.

Release

The film first premiered at the

on 30 August 2021. It has also been screened at the following film festivals;

Palm Springs International Film Festival Palm Springs International Film Festival (sometimes stylized shortly as PSIFF) is a film festival held in Palm Springs, California. Originally promoted by Mayor Sonny Bono and then sponsored by Nortel,here for Table of Contents it started in 19 ...

UK Jewish Film Festival The UK Jewish Film Festival is an annual film festival dedicated to world cinema that explores Jewish life, history and culture worldwide. It was founded in 1997 and takes place in November, in London and in other cities in the United Kingdom. ...

, BFI Flare: London LGBTIQ+ Film Festival,

Golden Horse Film Festival and Awards The Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival and Taipei Golden Horse Awards () are a film festival and associated awards ceremony held annually in Taiwan. The festival and ceremony were founded in 1962 by the Government Information Office of the Repub ...

Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival (BNFF), or PÖFF (Pimedate Ööde filmifestival), is an annual film festival held since 1997 in Tallinn, the capital city of Estonia. PÖFF is one of the largest film festivals in Northern Europe. In 2014, it was ...

Chéries-Chéris Chéries-Chéris (Festival du Film Lesbien, Gay, Bi, Trans & ++++ de Paris) is an annual international LGBT film festival held in Paris in October or November. Original titled "Festival of Gays and Lesbians of Paris", it was founded in 1994 by Y ...

and the

Hong Kong Lesbian & Gay Film Festival The Hong Kong Lesbian & Gay Film Festival (HKLGFF; ) is an annual international film festival focused on LGBTQIA+ cinema, held each September in Hong Kong. Founded in 1989 by Edward Lam (), a Hong Kong film director and gay activist, it is cons ...

. It also received a limited theatrical release in the United States on 7 October 2022.Release
IMDB. Retrieved on 12 June 2024 The film was also released for

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Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

by the

Special Broadcasting Service The Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) is an Australian hybrid-funded public broadcasting, public service broadcaster. About 80 percent of funding for the company is derived from tax revenue. SBS operates six TV channels (SBS (Australian TV chann ...

.10 Binge Worthy Queer TV for the Holidays
''Fuse Magazine''. 2023

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Swimmer 2021 drama films 2021 films 2021 LGBTQ-related films Israeli LGBTQ-related films 2020s Hebrew-language films LGBTQ-related sports drama films Israeli sports drama films