The Swimmers (2022)

It was hard for me to sit through the entire film — I was already choked up just watching the trailer which, by the way, gives away the entire overall storyline already. One might argue that, since The Swimmers is telling the true-life story of sisters Sara and Yusra Mardini, the mystery behind ‘what happens’ in the film has already been resolved.

Based on the epic and difficult journey of Sara and Yusra Mardini, The Swimmers, relates how they went from living a normal, safe life in Syria, dreaming of going to the Olympics as swimming athletes, to fleeing for their lives as refugees when the war hit their country.

The basic, inflatable boat they’re travelling on to get to Europe with many other desperate hopefuls starts to sink. The Mardini sisters immediately jump into the sea and swim for hours, guiding the boat to safety.

It’s a story of unmatched courage and bravery. Of being at the top, having your dreams shattered, soul tested and restarting life again.

All of the reviews, by audiences and critics alike are true, The Swimmers is a must-watch film. Watch with family and keep a big box of tissue papers on hand.

With Christmas holidays coming up and the end of the year in sight, here is a list of 2022 Netflix releases to catch up on at home

Harry & Meghan (2022)

If I hear one more complaint stating that “Why are Prince Harry and Meghan Markle putting themselves out there when they left the UK to get more privacy?” I will scream.

People need to understand the difference between consent and choosing when to let people in vs having your privacy repeatedly violated. There have been endless conversations in the wake of Britney Spears’ release from her father’s clutches through the dissolution of his 13-year-long conservatorship over her, over how toxic and invasive the tabloid media can get. We also had the same conversations after Princess Diana’s accident that resulted in the death of her and her partner Dodi Fayed and her chauffeur Henri Paul. Yet, we don’t learn.

In Harry & Meghan, the couple invite you into their lives, on their own terms. You hear from their close friends and associates, see never-before-seen photos and videos of how and when the two met and the whole sequence leading up to the announcement that they are together, the wedding and the fallout.

Harry speaks about his mother’s treatment at the hands of the paparazzi, how it affected him growing up, how the media in the UK is largely dominated by white persons, how vicious the tabloid media can get and how the palace provides them some level of patronage.

For both the initiated and uninitiated in the Prince Harry and Meghan Markle drama, there are snippets of new information to digest and mull over (should you choose to). The series aims to humanise the pair, while not directly casting any blame or fingers at specific persons in the royal family.

The first three episodes are already out. Looking forward to seeing what they produce next.

Farha (2022)

This co-production between Jordan, Sweden and Saudi Arabia has been hosted on Netflix only recently and the platform is getting a lot of flack and pressure from pro-Israeli groups to take it off. The trailer was enough to give one goose bumps, the film does more than that.

Directed and written by Darin J. Sallam, and starring Karam Taher (who looks uncannily like Noor Taher, a Jordanian-Palestinian actress from another Netflix production, Al Rawabi School for Girls) in the titular role, Farha is a story of the Nakba [Catastrophe] that took place in Palestine in 1948.

The Nakba is an extremely tragic event in history in which, following the Israeli-Palestinian war of 1948, resulted in the destruction of the Palestinian homeland, massacre of thousands of Palestinians and permanent displacement and occupation of Palestine. This included a region called Mandatory Palestine, a geopolitical entity established in Palestine under the League of Nations Mandate for Palestine between 1920-1948. The occupation now also extends to occupied West Bank, the Gaza Strip and Palestinian refugee camps throughout the region.

This landmark film is a historical drama set in 1948. Farha is a 14-year-old girl who lives in a small village in Palestine. She is inseparable from her best friend Farida and wants to continue going to school, but education for girls is limited in her village.

Farida lives in the city but visits the village on the weekends. Farha wants to go to school in the city with Farida, but she comes from a conservative society and, by her age, most girls in the village are married off.

Just as her father is about to get convinced to let her pursue her education, her dreams are shattered. Danger enters the village, she is cruelly separated from Farida. In order to protect her, her traumatised father forcibly locks her in a small outdoor pantry next to the house, concealing the entrance and promises to return. Farha is shocked and confused, her only means of getting fresh air and her only connection to the outside world is through a small hole in the wall.

It’s from there that Farha ends up witnessing events that transform both her, her country and the whole world permanently. Heartbreaking, true, and breaking new boundaries for films from the Middle East, do watch the film before it possibly gets taken down.

Published in Dawn, ICON, December 18th, 2022