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.

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.

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Freedom Swimmer has already played in over 40 Film festivals and received several awards including two academy qualifying animation awards at Aspen Shortsfest and Sydney Film Festival.

Winner Best Animation, Aspen Shortsfest, Academy & BAFTA Qualifying, April 2022

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Winner Ellen Award, Aspen Shortsfest, April 2022

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Winner Yoram Gross Award for Best Short Animation, Academy & BAFTA Qualifying, Sydney Film Festival, November 2021

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Winner Best Short Documentary, Australian International Documentary Conference (AIDC), 2022

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Winner Film House Award, Athens International Film and Video Festival, April 2022

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Winner Best Short Film, Cardiff Animation Festival, April 2022

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Winner Best Short Film, Millennium Docs Against Gravity Film Festival, Poland 2022 

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Winner Best Mixed Media Film, Spark Film Festival, Vancouver, October 2021

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Winner Best Creative, Kendal Mountain Film Festival, UK, November 2021

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Shortlisted, One World Media Awards, London, April 2022

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Shortlisted – Palm Springs Film Festival, Bridging the Borders Award, California, 2022

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Special Mention Best Short Film, Movies that Matter, the Hague, the Netherlands, 2022

Screenings
 

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, Festival of Animation de Rennes, France

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, Stuttgart International Festival of Animated Film, 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

Shortlisted, One World Media Awards, London

Official Selection, PyeongChang Int'l Peace Film Festival, Korea

Official Selection, Forum des images, France

Official Selection, Plein La Bobine, France

Official Selection, Palm Springs Film Festival

Official Selection, Academy Accredited ® Doc Edge Film Festival, New Zealand

Official Selection, Unifrance Short Film Award, Cannes

Official Selection, Lyon projection, ARTE

Official Selection, San Francisco Documentary Film Festival

Official Selection, Independent Film Festival Ypsilanti, Michigan

Official Selection, 50th Huesca International Film Festival

Official Selection, Maui Film Festival, Hawaii

​Official Selection, Edinburgh Film Festival, Scotland