The Swimmers NEW
Available: Wednesday 23 November
Genre: One-off drama
The incredible true story of two young sisters who went from refugees fleeing war-torn Syria to competing in the 2016 Rio Olympics is told in this emotional drama. Lebanese actor Manal Issa and her real-life sister Nathalie Issa star as Sara and Yusra Mardini, who fled the civil war in Syria in 2015 after their home was destroyed. They journeyed to Lebanon and then Turkey with their cousin Nizar (Ahmed Malek) before heading to Greece on a dinghy. But in the middle of the Aegean Sea, the engine of the overcrowded craft cut out and the pair,
plus two others who could swim, helped save the lives of others on board. Just a year later, Yusra competed in swimming events at the Olympic Games as part of the Refugee Olympic Team. ‘There was so much connection with my sister on set, we made each other strong every day,’ says Nathalie. ‘It was a really hard shoot, but she reassured me – we were this duo that were inseparable.’