Sasha Nathwani’s brilliant coming-of-age film Last Swim is set in London during the sweaty swing of summer, as young astrophysics enthusiast Ziba (Deba Hekmat) has her eye set on experiencing a meteor shower in person. Last Swim chronicles a day with Ziba and her friends as they celebrate their A-level results amongst their fading youth.
Unbeknownst to her friends Tara, Shea, and Murph (respectively: Lydia Fleming, Solly McLeod, Jay Lycurgo) and the newly anointed member of their group Malcolm (Denzel Baidoo), Ziba is hiding a secret illness. While her carefully planned itinerary of Falafel and shrooms that she creates soon loses structure, the journey is one of sweet melancholia. The film swirls with a sense of unrestrained and unflinching beauty and the joy and heartbreak of being a teenager, where the burden of expectation is placed upon the youth by parental figures. Last Swim finds pathos in those fleeting connections made within your teenage years.
Last Swim took home the Crystal Bear for Best Film in the Generation category at the Berlin Film Festival in 2024. Prior to this award, film critic Connor Lightbody sat down with Sasha Nathwani to discuss setting a film in a London Summer, the films that inspired Last Swim, finding the gem that is Deba Hekmat, and working alongside producer and co-writer Helen Simmons (Hoard) on the script.
This interview was first posted on April 6th 2024. Full interview linked below.
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