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In the first sequence of “Mother Mother” a herd of camels cry out in the dark. Their guttural sounds are their own kind of haunting music as we are drawn into the world of two camel herders in rural Somalia: widow and force-of-nature Qalifo and loyal only son Asa (newcomers Maan Youssouf Ahmed and Elmi Rashid Elmi).

Written and directed by Somali-Canadian hip hop artist K’naan Warsame, the film is a slowburn drama, observational in its visual footprint and spare in its narrative tendencies. At the same time the film — which bills itself as “the first Somali film produced by a major Hollywood studio” — is replete with bursts of cinematic energy that keep one curious.

Shot entirely on location in Kenya and the autonomously-run Somali region of Puntland, Warsame’s collaboration with “City of God” and “The Constant Gardener” (also shot in Kenya) cinematographer César Charlone is a get that,...

The lineup for the 28th edition of the American Black Film Festival continues to get more star studded with the world premiere of the second season of Kerry Washington’s Hulu series “UnPrisoned.”

Washington will attend the Miami Beach-based festival to celebrate the premiere and sit for a fireside chat with fellow executive producer Tracy McMillan, who created the series based on her life.

The Special Screenings lineup also features world premieres of documentaries “Ol’ Dirty Bastard: A Tale of Two Dirtys,” about the Wu-Tang Clan founding member, and “Down in the Valley,” inspired the world of the hit Starz series “P-Valley,” plus a screening of the classic “Devil in a Blue Dress,” as part of the Denzel Washington Retrospective.

The HBO Short Film Award Showcase will kick off the film festival program on June 12, hosted by Sirius Xm’s Bevy Smith (“Bevelations”). Five filmmakers are selected as finalists, and...

Exclusive: Goodfellas has acquired world sales rights for Emilio Estevez’s The Way: Chapter 2, reuniting the actor-director with the cast members of his original 2010 hit, father Martin Sheen, Yorick Van Wageningen and James Nesbitt.

The sequel revisits protagonist Tom (Sheen) a decade after his first pilgrimage on Spain’s El Camino de Santiago in the footsteps of his deceased son Daniel (Estevez), as he reconnects with his walking companions Joost (van Wageningen) and Jack (Nisbitt).

Now embedded with Doctors Without Borders in northern Nigeria, performing surgery in a war zone, Tom is sent a copy of Jack’s bestselling book based on their shared experience, in which a disturbing secret is revealed.

Enraged, he leaves to search for Jack and find answers to questions that have haunted him for a decade. His journey reunites him with Joost and leads them through Amsterdam, Dublin, Brussels and France before returning to Spain and the Camino.

The Swimmers is a saga of grit and determination arising out of a desire to escape the conflict zone of Syria by two sisters and pursue the passions of their lie. The topic chosen is contextual- the aspiration of citizens caught in zones of conflict to try to escape it and have a meaningful life without a morbid fear of looming death in myriad formats looming over the shoulders.

Sportspersons have the burning desire continuously simmering below their skins, to make a mark of their prowess in their chosen fields and announce their arrival through a public arena and create a spectacle. The Swimmers is a gritty tale of two sisters Yusra Mardini and Sara Mardini, enacted by two real life sisters- Natahie Issa and Manal Issa, who try and escape the conflict zone of war in their backyard in Syria and arrive in Germany to aspire to lead a...

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A film examining the plight of asylum seekers in the U.K. is in the works from a team of filmmakers, some of whom have firsthand experiences as refugees seeking asylum themselves.

Entitled Matar, the drama comes from director and activist Hassan Akkad, who won a BAFTA for his BBC documentary Exodus: Our Journey to Europe, which used footage from his own journey as a Syrian refugee to the U.K.

Set to highlight the struggles of asylum seekers in the hostile environment of London’s streets and the hardships faced by thousands of migrants trying to exist in this country, the script is based on the experiences of Ayman Alhussein, a Syrian refugee and cinematographer. Alhussein, who lent his expertise to and had a small role on Netflix’s Toronto-opener The Swimmers, also chronicling the struggles of refugees journeying into Europe, will...

On Thursday evening The Swimmers received a four minute standing ovation after its premiere at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival.

This soaring epic dramatizes the true story of two sisters who left their home in war-torn Syria for a new life in Europe — and the chance to compete in the 2016 Summer Olympics.

An epic adventure drawn from the most pressing of global stories, The Swimmers tells the remarkable true tale of sisters Yusra and Sara Mardini, who fled their home in war-torn Damascus to seek a new life in Europe and earn the chance to compete in the Olympics. Directed by Sally El Hosaini (My Brother the Devil) and written by Jack Thorne (TIFF ’19’s The Aeronauts), this is a moving story of two young women refugees, and their inspiring reach for a better life.

The Hollywood Reporter’s Etan Vlessing writes: “It’s an inspirational story,” director El-Hosaini said...

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Sally El Hosaini’s drama The Swimmers, the true-life story of Syrian refugees-turned-Olympic athletes the Mardini sisters, will be the opening night film at the 18th Zurich International Film Festival.

The Swimmers, which will have its world premiere in Toronto, will have its European bow in Zurich on Sept. 22. El Hosaini together with the film’s stars Nathalie Issa and Matthias Schweighöfer and sisters Sara and Yusra Mardini will attend the Zurich premiere.

Produced by Working Title for Netflix, El Hosaini’s feature follows the Mardini sisters’ journey after they fled the civil war in Syria in 2015, trying to escape across the Aegean Sea to Europe. When the motor of the dinghy they were ridding on cut out, the sisters, both champion swimmers, helped save the other passengers. They went on to settle in Germany, where Yusra began training again. She competed at...

Making its European premiere, Sally El Hosaini’s The Swimmers has been set as the opening film of the 18th Zurich Film Festival. Based on the inspirational true-life story of the Mardini sisters, it will screen on September 22 at Zurich’s Convention Center. It will earlier world premiere as the opening night gala presentation in Toronto.

The Working Title film for Netflix is directed and written by El Hosaini and co-written by Jack Thorne. It follows the harrowing journey of two young sisters from war-torn Syria to the 2016 Rio Olympics.

“The Swimmers is a deeply moving and timely film about a miraculous journey,” says Zff Artistic Director Christian Jungen. “It shines a light on the refugee crisis, but is also up-lifting and inspiring. We couldn’t imagine a better opening night film. Sally El Hosaini, who already with her first feature My Brother The Devil won an award at Sundance,...

Sally El Hosaini’s drama “The Swimmers,” based on the inspirational true-life story of the Mardini sisters, will open the 18th Zurich Film Festival on Sept. 22. It will be the film’s European premiere.

The film is produced by Working Title for Netflix. It is directed and written by El Hosaini and co-written by Jack Thorne, based on a true story. It follows the journey from war-torn Syria to the 2016 Rio Olympics of two young sisters, who embark on a harrowing journey as refugees, putting both their hearts and champion swimming skills to heroic use.

El Hosaini will be joined at the screening by cast members Nathalie Issa and Matthias Schweighöfer, along with Sara and Yusra Mardini, and Yusra’s swimming coach Sven Spannenkrebs.

“’The Swimmers’ is a deeply moving and timely film about a miraculous journey,” Christian Jungen, the festival’s artistic director, said. “It shines a light on the refugee crisis,...

Sally El Hosaini’s Netflix movie The Swimmers will be making its world premiere at the Toronto Film Festival as the opening-night film on September 8 at Roy Thomson Hall.

The pic, based on a true story, follows the journey of two young sisters who fled war-torn Syria as refugees and made their way to the 2016 Rio Olympics to compete in swimming.

Deadline told you Tuesday that CAA signed El Hosaini.

“I was deeply moved by the story of these two sisters and wowed by the storytelling,” said TIFF CEO Cameron Bailey. “The Swimmers was the very best kind of surprise when we saw it this summer — an exciting, epic journey and the arrival of an important filmmaker. I’m thrilled that audiences in Toronto will be the first to discover Sally El Hosaini’s remarkable film, and that this year on our Opening Night we can honor everyone who risks everything to reach a better,...

Sally El Hosaini’s refugee drama “The Swimmers” will open the 47th Toronto International Film Festival.

The film follows the journey made by swimming sisters Yusra and Sarah Mardini who fled as refugees from war-torn Syria all the way to the 2016 Rio Olympics.

In 2015, after their house was destroyed in the Syrian Civil War, the Mardini sisters decided to flee the country. They made their way to Lebanon and then Turkey, where they arranged to be smuggled into Greece by dinghy. In the middle of the Aegean Sea, the motor of the dinghy, overcrowded with refugees, cut out, and the Mardini sisters and others who could swim, ensured the safety of the passengers.

The film is based on a screenplay by El Hosaini and BAFTA winner Jack Thorne (“Help”).

The roles of Yusra and Sarah Mardini are played by Lebanese sisters Manal and Nathalie Issa (“My Favourite Fabric”). Manal Issa...

The 2022 Toronto International Film Festival lineup is coming further into focus, with the Opening Night selection now revealed.

Netflix and Working Title film “The Swimmers” is confirmed to open the 2022 festival on Thursday, September 8. “The Swimmers” follows the journey from war-torn Syria to the 2016 Rio Olympics of two elite swimmers who are sisters and is written and directed by Sally El Hosaini and co-written by multi-award-winner Jack Thorne.

“I was deeply moved by the story of these two sisters and wowed by the storytelling,” TIFF CEO Cameron Bailey said in a press statement. “‘The Swimmers’ was the very best kind of surprise when we saw it this summer — an exciting, epic journey and the arrival of an important filmmaker. I’m thrilled that audiences in Toronto will be the first to discover Sally El Hosaini’s remarkable film, and that this year on our Opening Night we can honor everyone...

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The Working Title and Netflix drama The Swimmers, about real-life sisters on an inspiring odyssey as refugees from war-torn Syria to the 2016 Rio Olympics, will open the Toronto Film Festival on Sept. 8 at Roy Thomson Hall.

Lebanese actresses and real-life sisters Manal and Nathalie Issa play sisters Yusra and Sarah Mardini in the film from writer and director Sally El Hosaini, who co-wrote the script for The Swimmers with Enola Holmes scribe Jack Thorne.

The sisters, fleeing their home in Damascus, had to swim in choppy Mediterranean seas to reach the Greek island of Lesbos as asylum seekers before going on to compete in the pool at the Rio Olympic Games.

“I’m ecstatic. What an honor and privilege to open TIFF with the inspirational true-life story of the Mardini sisters. A city as multicultural and diverse as Toronto is the perfect place...

Filmmaker arrives with long-awaited follow-up to 2012’s ‘My Brother The Devil’.

Netflix and Working Title’s refugee drama The Swimmers from Sally El Hosaini will open the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), marking the streamer’s second opening-night slot of the upcoming fall festival season.

El Hosaini, a Screen Star of Tomorrow 2009 who makes her long-awaited follow-up to 2012 drama My Brother The Devil, co-wrote the screenplay with Jack Thorne based on a true story about two young sisters on a harrowing journey from war-torn Syria to compete as swimmers at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

Manal Issa, Nathalie Issa, Ahmed Malek, Matthias Schweighöfer,...

Sally El Hosaini’s “The Swimmers” has been chosen as the Opening Night Gala Presentation for the 47th Toronto International Film Festival.

Based on the true story of Yusra and Sarah Mardini, “The Swimmers” chronicles the journey of two sisters who flee Syria in the midst of war and eventually make it to the 2016 Rio Olympics.

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In August 2015, the Mardini sisters were on the third leg of their journey, a boat trip from Turkey to Greece, when the overcrowded vessel began to sink. After more than three hours of swimming, they were able to propel the passengers to safety. Less than a year later, 18-year-old Yusra made her Olympic debut at the 2016 Rio Games, followed by the Tokyo Summer Games four years later.

Led by sisters Nathalie and Manal Issa as Yusra and Sarah, the Netflix...