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
Shortlisted 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, 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
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November 2021
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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, August 2022
Freedom Swimmer
Director | Writer | Co-Producer
2021 | Australia, France, UK | Short Hybrid Animated Documentary | 15 minutes