The Swimmers is the Opening Night Gala Film at TIFF 2022

TIFF CEO Cameron Bailey announced today that The Swimmers will be the Opening Night Gala Film of the Toronto International Film Festival 2022. The film will premiere on Thursday, September 8th at the Roy Thomson Hall.

The deeply moving film is directed and written by Sally El Hosaini and co-written by multi-award-winner Jack Thorne. The Working Title and Netflix film follow the journey of two sisters from war-torn Syria to the 2016 Rio Olympics.

Cameron Bailey is excited about Sally El Hosaini and her storytelling abilities. Bailey mentions that this has been an epic and wonderful journey for the filmmaker. To introduce her to the city of Toronto is astounding. Bailey says “…this year on our Opening Night we can honour everyone who risks everything to reach a better, safer life.”

Sally El Hosaini is ecstatic about the film’s premiere at TIFF 2022. “A city as multicultural and diverse as Toronto is the perfect place to debut our film that elevates the visibility and voice of refugees, reminding us that the human capacity to survive is stronger than most of us know,” says El Hosaini.

Starring Manal Issa, Nathalie Issa, Ahmed Malek, Matthias Schweighöfer, Ali Suliman, Kinda Alloush, James Krishna Floyd, and Elmi Rashid Elmi. Directed by Sally El Hosaini, with a screenplay written by El Hosaini and multi-award-winning screenwriter and playwright Jack Thorne. Produced by Working Title’s Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner alongside Ali Jaafar and Tim Cole with Stephen Daldry executive producing.

www.tiff.net