
Women of the World, Global Voices
Town of Runners
Three young runners come from the Ethiopian rural town of Bekoji, home to current Olympic and World Champions.
A group of middle-aged men find unlikely success as members of Sweden's all-male synchronized swim team.
Dylan Williams has worked as both producer and director on a series of national and international films. His credits include productions shown on the BBC, Channel 4, Discovery Channel, ZDF-Arte, and the History Channel. His productions Space Tourists and Future Visions were sold to more than 25 countries worldwide. Dylan moved to Sweden in 2002 and has… Show more
Al Morrow is an award-winning producer and Head of Documentary at Met Film Production. She produced the feature documentary Deep Water (Pathe, UKFC, FilmFour), winner of the Grierson award for Best Cinema Documentary 2007; and Jerry Rothwell's Heavy Load (IFCtv, ITV, BBC), which won the Audience Award at the Britdoc Festival in 2008 and the inaugural CDN… Show more
Erik Pauser works as a director, producer, and visual artist. His latest film as director and producer is the feature documentary The Face of the Enemy, (Brandklipparen, AMP, SVT). The film premiered in competition at IDFA 2009. He produced Lars Siltberg's Holocene with the Swedish Radio symphonic orchestra and Esa-Pekka Salonen in cooperation with… Show more
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Men Who Swim is a humorous and poignant look at a group of middle-aged men who have found unlikely success as members of Sweden's all-male synchronized swimming team. What begins as a weekly escape from the daily grind of work and family responsibilities gradually evolves into a more serious commitment. Inspired by Esther Williams's techniques from the 1950s, these train engineers and meat buyers, archivists and teachers soon become passionate exponents of a sport generally associated with women.
After initially believing that are the only all-male team in the world, they're surprised to discover that other countries also have teams, including Japan, Ukraine, Holland, France, Germany, Czech Republic, Italy, and Spain. For the first time there is even going to be an unofficial All Male World Championship in the sport.
The team enters the championship in Milan and quickly realize they will have to train hard if they are to have a chance at the medals. Initially there is resistance among the men to a new regime that requires dedication, punctuality, and precision. Tempers flare and nerves fray, but finally they start to work in sync to pull together a winning routine.
More than half the team will turn 40 during the 2009 season, making the competition all the more urgent. The men are struggling with their identities as they move beyond youth and must contemplate the meaning of their lives and direction they will take.
Men Who Swim examines what it means to be part of a team and also what it is to be an individual at a crucial time in life. Ultimately, it's about realizing that maybe you've already got everything you ever wanted.
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