21 November 2015

The Swimming Club wins £500 We The Peoples Film Festival #TweetAPitch

Highlight of the We The Peoples Film Festival Young Film Makers Day at the BFI, was the #TweetAPitch final featuring eight contestants whittled down from thirty eight original entrants. Each contestant  made a two minute pitch to the judges panel which comprised John Glen, director of five James Bond films, Jade Jackman, #TweetAPitch winner in 2014 and noted film-maker Esteban Uyarra.  

The Swimming Club will be a 10 minute film , co-produced and co-directed by Nick Finegan and Cecilia Golding who made the pitch. It will follow London’s only ‘trans’ swimming club, TAGS (Trans And Gender-non-conforming Swimmers), an inspiring group of individuals who struggled against the tides of the status-quo to affect positive change for their community. 

Nick and Cecilia describe The Swimming Club as ‘a story defined by the inherent struggles of living publicly as trans in 2015, providing an incredible insight into issues that transcend the world of just this particular community.’

Nick and Cecilia will receive a £500 Bursary from the We The Peoples Film Festival and benefit through guidance from the British Film Institute. The Swimming Club will be premiered at the 2016 festival in November at the BFI South Bank.  
   
Other finalists set out to tackle various issues such as the “Jungle” refugee camp in Calais; the integration challenges of teenage refugees; challenges facing ex-FARC women fighters on finding feminist solutions in post-conflict Colombia; the loss of dignity in death with more and more people living and dying alone; and the conflicts in a Hindu family with one son marrying and another struggling with coming out.