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.

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 already played in over 60 Film festivals and received several awards including two academy qualifying animation awards at Aspen Shortsfest and Sydney Film Festival.

Awards

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, Australian International Documentary Conference (AIDC), 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 Mixed Media Film, Spark Film Festival, Vancouver, 2021

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

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

Special Mention Best Short Documentary, 19th In the Palace, Bulgaria 2022

Screenings

August 2021

September 2021

October 2021

November 2021

December 2021

January 2022

February 2022

March 2022

April 2022

May 2022

June 2022

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

Shortlisted, 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, 50th Huesca International Film Festival, Spain

Freedom Swimmer

No-Thing Productions

filmmaker and photographer

Awards

Screenings

Freedom Swimmer

© OLIVIA MARTIN-MCGUIRE 2021