''Vindication Swim'' is an upcoming

biographical A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just the basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or c ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super ...

about swimmer

Mercedes Gleitze Mercedes Carey (née Gleitze; 18 November 1900 – 9 February 1981) was a British professional swimmer. She was the first known person to swim the Straits of Gibraltar and the first British woman to swim the English Channel. The name of Merced ...

, who in 1927 became the first British woman to swim the

English Channel The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" ( Cotentinais) or (Jèrriais), ( Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kan ...

. The film is written and directed by

Elliott Hasler Elliott Simon Hasler (born 29 July 2000) is an English film director and screenwriter. Hasler is best known for the biopic ''Vindication Swim'', which centres around the story of Mercedes Gleitze and her attempt to become the first British woman to ...

, starring

Kirsten Callaghan Kirsten Sarah Callaghan (born 7 June 1991) is a British-Irish actress, writer, producer and singer-songwriter. Callaghan is best known for her lead role as swimmer Mercedes Gleitze in the upcoming biopic ''Vindication Swim''. Career Callaghan ...

in the lead role with John Locke playing her coach and

Victoria Summer Victoria Summer (born 15 December 1981) is an English actress, model and singer. After beginning her career in horror films, Summer transitioned into more mainstream roles starting with the Brian Herzlinger film ''How Sweet It Is''. She played ...

as a rival swimmer. The film is produced by Relsah Films in association with Sea High Productions, Arden Entertainment and Picnik Entertainment. It is set for release in 2022.

Premise

''Vindication Swim'' depicts the story Mercedes Gleitze, who in 1927 became the first British woman to swim the English Channel. The film portrays Gleitze’s 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.

Cast

* John Locke as Harold Best *

as Edith Gade *

Douglas Hodge Douglas Hodge is an English actor, director, and musician who has had an extensive career in theatre, as well as television and film where he has appeared in ''Robin Hood'' (2010), '' Legends of Oz: Dorothy's Return'' and ''Diana'' (2013), '' P ...

as The Newsreader *

James Wilby James Jonathon Wilby (born 20 February 1958) is an English actor. Early life and education Wilby was born in Rangoon, Burma to a corporate executive father. He was educated at Terrington Hall School, North Yorkshire and Sedbergh School in Cu ...

as Mr. Havers *John Tolputt as Sir Arthur Coleridge *Sam Bullen as P.J. Templeton *Mike Skinner as Dr. H.W. Phillips * Matthew Wyn Davies as Corentin Charboneau *Anthony Arundell as Chairman Michael Read *David Aitchison as Samuel Huntington * Owen Oldroyd as Office Manager *Justin Hayward as Leonard Clay *

Michael Cronin Michael or Mick Cronin may refer to: Sports * Mick Cronin (hurler) (1902–1982), Irish hurler * Mick Cronin (footballer) (1911–1979), Australian rules football player, umpire and television commentator *Mick Cronin (rugby league) (born 1951), Au ...

as Steamship Captain * Melodie Tyrer as

Gertrude Ederle Gertrude Caroline Ederle (October 23, 1906 – November 30, 2003) was an American competition swimmer, Olympic champion, and world record-holder in five events. On August 6, 1926, she became the first woman to swim across the English Channel. ...

* Billy Reid as Pub Landlord *

Tim Loughton Timothy Paul Loughton, (born 30 May 1962) is a British politician and former banker who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for East Worthing and Shoreham since the 1997 general election. A member of the Conservative Party, he was Pa ...

as William Joynson-Hicks

Production

It was announced in 2018 that Hasler was writing a screenplay based around Mercedes Gleitze's 1927 attempt to become the first British woman to swim the English Channel, and that he intended for this to be his next project following the completion of his first feature '' WWII: The Long Road Home''. John Locke was cast as Gleitze's coach, Harold Best, and sat in on auditions for the role of Gleitze. Kirsten Callaghan was cast as Mercedes Gleitze in June 2019. Filming began on 12 August 2019 for the swimming sequences in the English Channel off the coast of

Newhaven Newhaven may refer to: Places * Newhaven, Derbyshire, England, a hamlet *Newhaven, East Sussex, England, a port town * Newhaven, Edinburgh, Scotland *Newhaven Sanctuary, Northern Territory, Australia *Newhaven, Victoria, Australia Other uses *Ne ...

. At the end of September, filming of on-land exteriors and interiors took place across Sussex, which was delayed multiple times due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...

. Filming locations include Brighton,

Eastbourne Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. Eastbourne is immediately east of Beachy Head, the highest chalk sea cliff in Great Britain and part of the l ...

Lewes Lewes () is the county town of East Sussex, England. It is the police and judicial centre for all of Sussex and is home to Sussex Police, East Sussex Fire & Rescue Service, Lewes Crown Court and HMP Lewes. The civil parish is the centre ...

Hastings Hastings () is a large seaside town and borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east to the county town of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to the north-west a ...

and Worthing. Additional scenes were also shot in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the We ...

. Filming eventually wrapped in June 2021. In November 2020, it was reported by

Deadline Deadline(s) or The Deadline(s) may refer to: * Time limit, a narrow field of time by which an objective must be accomplished Arts, entertainment, and media Comics * Deadline (DC Comics), a fictional villain * ''Deadline'' (magazine), a Britis ...

that actress

had joined the production as Edith Gade, a rival swimmer who attempts to usurp Gleitze's record. In January 2022,

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

reported that actors

and

had also joined the cast. The film is being scored by Daniel Clive McCallum.

Release

In November 2022 ''Vindication Swim'' was screened at the historic Duke of York's Picturehouse in Brighton as part CINECITY Brighton Film Festival. The film was also nominated for best feature film at the

Cardiff International Film Festival The Cardiff Film Festival (''Gŵyl Ffilm Caerdydd'' in Welsh) was an annual film festival that took place in Cardiff, Wales. It had previously been called the Cardiff Screen Festival. Background Commencing in 1989, it was originally held annual ...

in October 2022. The film is set for release in 2022.

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 10776714
''Vindication Swim''
on Relsah Productions
''Vindication Swim''
Official Site Upcoming films Upcoming English-language films British biographical drama films British black-and-white films British feminist films British historical drama films British independent films British sports drama films Drama films based on actual events Films partially in color Films postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic Films set in the 1920s Films set in 1927 Films set in England Films set in London Films set in Brighton