"Cleverly using stylistic elements to protect the contributors, the film told their story like a thriller, using sound to draw the viewer in and take them right through to the knock-out ending.”
"This powerful documentary combines live action with stunningly poetic animation"
The story of a grandfather’s perilous swim from China to Hong Kong that parallels his granddaughter’s own quest for a new freedom.
Freedom Swimmer was funded by Screen Australia before the pandemic but the filmmakers were not able to complete the film during COVID and thus it was part animated in France. The film was then commissioned by ARTE TV in France and SBS in Australia, Produced by Sacrebleu Productions in France and No Thing Productions in Australia. It is now also screening on PBS POV, Short of the Week and Aeon.
The story came to Olivia whilst living in Hong Kong. It is a story that those interviewed wanted to tell - but feared the consequences of doing so. It is based on anonymous interviews and has used actors to re-record all the lines.
Freedom Swimmer has received fifty awards including the Bridging the Borders Award at Palm Springs, best short at Millennium Docs Against Gravity, best short and the Ellen Award at Aspen and a highly commended Grierson Award. It was selected for Doc Stories at San Francisco International Film Festival, Meet the Press at DOCNYC and the Indiewire showcase in L.A. of Oscar-qualifying shorts.
Awards
Winner Highly Commended Grierson Trust, Best Documentary Short, 2022
Winner Best Animation, Aspen Shortsfest, Academy & BAFTA Qualifying, 2022
Winner Ellen Award, Aspen Shortsfest, US, 2022
Winner Yoram Gross Award for Best Short Animation, Academy & BAFTA Qualifying, Sydney Film Festival, 2021
Winner Best Short Film, Millennium Docs Against Gravity Film Festival, Poland,2022
Winner Best Short Film, One World Media Awards, London, 2022
Winner Best International Short Film, Academy Qualifying, DocEdge Festival, 2022
Winner Bridging The Borders Award, Palm Springs Shortsfest, 2022
Winner Best Short Documentary Award, Santa Fe International Film Festival, USA, 2022
Winner Best Short Documentary Award, Chicago International Childrens Festival, USA, 2022
Winner Special Mention Best Short Film, Movies that Matter, the Hague, 2022
Winner Special Mention Best Short Documentary, 19th In the Palace, Bulgaria 2022
Winner Best Short Documentary, Australian International Documentary Conference (AIDC), 2022
Winner Best Director of a Short Documentary, Australian Directors Guild, 2022
Winner Best Short Documentary, Calgary International Film Festival, 2022
Winner Telus Audience Choice Award, Calgary International Film Festival, 2022
Winner Doc'Anim Award, Animatou Film Festival, Switzerland 2022
Winner Best International Short Audience Award, Hot Springs Documentary Festival, USA 2022
Winner Best World Short Film Award, IndiCork, Ireland, 2022
Winner Best Documentary Short, Key West Film Festival, Florida, 2022
Winner Best Film, Mino Competition, Festival Plein La Bobine, France 2022
Winner Best Grand Action Film, Unifrance competition, Cannes, France 2022
Winner Film House Award, Athens International Film and Video Festival, USA, 2022
Winner Craft Award, St Kilda Film Festival, Australia 2022
Winner Best Short Film, Cardiff Animation Festival, UK, 2022
Winner Best Australian Short Film, CinefestOZ Festival, Western Australia, 2022
Winner Grand Film Prize, Femme Filmmakers Film Festival, Italy, 2022
Winner Best Sound, Femme Filmmakers Film Festival, Italy, 2022
Winner Bronze Award, Best Short Film, Manhattan Short Film Festival, 2022
Winner Best Mixed Media Film, Spark Film Festival, Vancouver, 2021
Winner Best Mixed Media, Discover Film Festival, London, 2022
Winner Best Creative, Kendal Mountain Film Festival, UK, 2021
Winner Audience Award, Leiden Shorts, The Netherlands, 2022
Winner Best Film, FIFF International Short Film Competition, Stuttgart, 2022
Winner Best Short Film, Festival St Paul Les Trois Chateaux, France, 2022
Winner Best Animated Film, Shorts Mexico, Mexico, 2022
Winer Most Inspiring True Story, Heart of Gold International Short Film Festival, Australia 2022
Winner Best Short and Best Animation, Shorts not Pants, Toronto, 2022
Winner Outstanding Achievement in Sound, West Australian Screen Awards, 2022
Winner Innovation in Short Film, West Australian Screen Awards, 2022
Winner Audience Award, Coronado Island Film Festival, USA, 2022
Winner Audience Award, Australian Short Film Today, Austin, Texas, 2022
Winner Jury Prize, Paris Courts Devant, France, 2023
Winner Special Mention, Stellar Short Film Festival, Frankston, 2023
Winner Best Animated Documentary, Animatricks Animation Festival, Helsinki, 2023
Winner Best Short Documentary, Psaroloco International Children's & Young People’s Film Festival 2023, Greece, 2023
Winner Best Short Documentary, Uptilt Film Festival, USA, 2023
Winner Audience Award for Best Short, Kaboom Festival, Netherlands, 2023
Winner Best Short Film, Fairhope Film Festival, Alabama, 2023
Screenings
August 2021
September 2021
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January 2022
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Official Selection, Academy & BAFTA Accredited ® Melbourne International Film Festival
Official Selection, Loudon Arts Festival, Virginia
Official Selection, DC Shorts, Washington
Official Selection, Spark Film Festival, Vancouver
Official Selection, AIX En-Provence France
Official Selection, Academy & BAFTA Accredited ® PÖFF Festival Estonia
Official Selection, Academy Accredited ® DOCNYC
Official Selection, Kendal Mountain Film Festival
Official Selection, Academy Accredited ® Sydney Film Festival
Official Selection, Animateka, Slovenia
Official Selection, Academy & BAFTA Accredited ® Flickerfest
Official Selection, International Film Festival Rotterdam, BAFTA qualifying
Official Selection, 34th Minimalen Short Film Festival, Trondheim, Norway
Official Selection, Academy & BAFTA Accredited ® Slamdance
Official Selection, Brussels International Film Festival, Brussels
Official Selection, 10th Asia Pacific Triennial (QAGOMA), Queensland
Official Selection, Academy Accredited ® Santa Barbara, California
Official Selection, 7th GLAS Animation Festival, Berkeley, California
Official Selection, 24th Mecal Pro, the Barcelona International Short and Animation Festival
Official Selection, Salem Film Festival, Massachusetts
Official Selection, Tricky Women Film Festival, Austria
Official Selection, Boulder Film Festival, Colorado
Official Selection, Veterans Film Festival, Sydney, Australia
Official Selection, Ennesimo Film Festival, Modena, Italy
Official Selection, Academy Accredited ® Athens International Film and Video Festival
Official Selection, Docudays UA International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival, Kyiv, Ukraine
Official Selection, Academy & BAFTA Accredited ® Aspen Shortsfest, Colorado
Official Selection, Academy Accredited ® 19th In the Palace, Bulgaria
Official Selection, Cardiff Animation Festival, Wales
Official Selection, Academy Accredited ®31st Florida International Film Festival, Florida
Official Selection, Fantaspoa, Brazil
Official Selection, Academy Accredited ® RiverRun Film Festival, North Carolina
Official Selection, Flatpack, BAFTA Qualifying
Official Selection, CinefestOz Albany, Perth
Official Selection, Festival national du film d’animation de Rennes
Official Selection, Movies that Matter Festival, the Hague, the Netherlands
Official Selection, Academy Accredited ® Cleveland International Film Festival, Academy Qualifying
Official Selection, Academy Accredited ® St Kilda Film Festival, Melbourne
Official Selection, Millennium Docs Against Gravity Film Festival, Poland
Official Selection, Lichter Film Festival, Frankfurt
Official Selection, International Trickfilm-Festival of Animated Film Stuttgart, BAFTA Qualifying
Official Selection, Academy Accredited ® LA Asia Pacific Film Festival
Official Selection, Carmarthen Bay Film Festival, BAFTA qualifying, Wales
Official Selection, Austrian Department of Amnesty international
Official Selection, Sigmund Freud Museum, Vienna
Official Selection, Unifrance Short Film Award, Cannes
One World Media Awards, London
Official Selection, Plein La Bobine, France
Official Selection, Lyon projection, ARTE
Official Selection, PyeongChang Int'l Peace Film Festival, Korea
Official Selection, Forum des images, France
Official Selection, Palm Springs Film Festival, Shortfest, BAFTA Qualifying
Official Selection, Academy Accredited ® Doc Edge Film Festival, New Zealand
Official Selection, San Francisco Documentary Film Festival
Official Selection, Independent Film Festival Ypsilanti, Michigan
Official Selection, Leiden Shorts, the Netherlands,
Official Selection, Anibar Film Festival, Kosovo
Official Selection, Maui Film Festival, Hawaii
Official Selection, Freedom Film Festival Radom, Poland
Official Selection, UN Pays UN Film Festival, France
Official Selection, CinefestOZ Busselton, Australia
Official Selection, Holly Shorts Film Festival, California
Official Selection, BAFTA Accredited ® Edinburgh Film Festival, Scotland, 2022
Official Selection, Manhattan Short Film Festival, 2022
Official Selection, Discover Film Awards, London, 2022
Official Selection, Calgary International Film Festival, 2022
Official Selection, Francigena Film Festival, Italy, September 2022
Official Selection, Carmarthen Bay Travelling Film Festival, 2022
Official Selection, Nashville Film Festival, 2022
Official Selection, American French Film Festival, Los Angeles, 2022
Official Selection, Santa Fe Film Festival, New Mexico, 2022
Official Selection, Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival, 2022
Official Selection, IndiCork Film Festival, Ireland, 2022
Official Selection, San Jose International Short Film Festival, 2022
Official Selection, Animatou Animation Film Festival, Geneva, 2022
Official Selection, Heart of Gold Film Festival, 2022
Official Selection, Femme Filmmakers Festival, 2022
Official Selection, Canlandiranlar International Film Festival, Turkey, 2022
Official Selection, Antipodes Festival, St Tropez, 2022
Official Selection, St Kilda Travelling Film Festival, Ireland, 2022
Official Selection, Adelaide Film Festival, 2022
Official Selection, Virginia Film Festival, 2022
Official Selection, International Festival du Film Francophone de Tubingen-Stuttgart, 2022
Official Selection, Chicago International Children's Film Festival, 2022
Official Selection, Veterans Film Festival, Australia, 2022
Official Selection, Rocky Mountain Women's Film Festival, Colorado 2022
Official Selection, DocStories, San Francisco Internationa Film Festival, 2022
Official Selection, DOCNYC Meet the Press; Seeking Refuge, Finding Home, 2022
Official Selection, Coronado Island Film Festival, San Diego 2022
Official Selection, Pittsburgh Shorts, Pennsylvania 2022
Official Selection, Key West Film Festival, Florida 2022
Official Selection, Chilliwack Independant Film Festival, Canada 2022
Official Selection, Internationale Kurzfilmtage Winterhur 2022
Official Selection, Sequence Court-Metrage, France 2022
Official Selection, Des cinés, la vie! (Movies, Life!), France 2022 - 23
Official Selection, Emile-Reynaud (European Animation) Awards 2022
Official Selection, FIFF international Short Film Competition, Tübingen Stuttgart 2022
Official Selection, Shorts Not Pants, Toronto, 2022
Official Selection, Oscar Contenders Showcase by IndieWire, ShortsTV and National Geographic, Los Angeles
Official Selection, Australian Short Film Today, Austin, Texas 2022
Official Selection, Smita Patil International Film Festival, India 2022
Official Selection, Fugitif Short Film Festival, France,2023
Official Selection, Paris Court Devant, France, 2023
Official Selection, Kaboom Festival, Netherlands 2023
Official Selection, Stellar Short Film Festival, Frankston 2023
Official Selection, Annapolis Film Festival, USA, 2023
Official Selection, Uptilt Film Festival, North Carolina 2023
Official Selection, Fargo Film Festival, North Dakota 2023
Official Selection, Festival Cinema for Change, 2023
Official Selection, ReelGood Film Festival, Melbourne, 2023
Official Selection, Psaroloco International Children's & Young People’s Film Festival, Athens 2023
Official Selection, Festival Trois Jours Trop Courts, France 2023
Official Selection, Festival Courtivore, France, 2023
Official Selection, Animatricks Animation Festival, Helsinki, 2023
Freedom Swimmer
Director | Writer | Co-Producer
2021 | Australia, France, UK | Short Hybrid Animated Documentary | 15 minutes