Last Swimdebuted last week at theBerlinFilm Festival, where it opened the festivals Generation sidebar.
So that was one of the conceits of the script, Nathwani told Deadline.
How would you reclaim your youth if you could?
© Matt McQuillan.
Exec producers are Ruby Walden, Kelly Peck, Jess Ozeri, Max Fisher, and Liam Johnson.
Paris-based Indie Sales is handling world rights.
Unlike the others, however,Last Swimwas produced completely independent of public money in the UK.
Sasha Nathwani and his cast in Berlin. Credit: Berlinale.
For me, thats been Last Swim.
Several people spoke to me about the film and implored me to see it.
SASHA NATHWANI:Thats amazing to hear.
A few people have said that to me.
You cant buy that kind of publicity.
Its not really about making a certain kind of film.
Its about making the right kind of film to capture the imagination at the right time.
For one reason or another,Last Swimseems to be doing that.
So were all over the moon.
NATHWANI:I was born and raised in London.
I started directing in my mid-20s, music videos, and fashion films.
I slowly transitioned to advertising and commercials.
It took me about four or five years to make that kind of sideways step.
I started writing the script in 2020 with Helen Simmons.
We had already done the rounds with the public funders.
We always got into the last rounds but never quite got through.
So Caviar came in and took that position.
DEADLINE:Why did you struggle to transition from shorts to features?
NATHWANI:The criteria is completely different.
I thought I had the right body of work going into meetings with the public funders.
Ive done music videos for big artists.
Ive done huge global campaigns.
Ive done high-profile commercials for New Balance with Coco Gauff and Jaden Smith.
I understand this now, but they werent interested in that.
They wanted to know that I could work over 90 minutes with character.
DEADLINE: Do you feel a sense of vindication towards the public funders?
NATHWANI:A little bit.
No one likes a smart ass.
Weve all eaten a fair slice of humble pie in our lives, so I get it.
There are so many brilliant projects in the UK.
But it had to be London.
The city is so central to the story.
But it didnt make sense to break up the production that way.
DEADLINE: You mentioned New York, and I know you went to NYU.
Can you talk about that experience?
And what are the differences between operating in the UK and U.S. systems?
NATHWANI:My favorite filmmakers growing up were New Yorkers, so thats why I went to NYU.
Martin Scorsese, Spike Lee, Woody Allen, Oliver Stone and Darren Aronofsky.
I knew the school had such a rich history.
But when I went there, if Im being completely honest, I thought it was an elitist environment.
I found that people werent necessarily there because they were talented but because they could afford to be there.
It was so prohibitively expensive.
I was there on a 50% scholarship.
I was in debt for a long time.
When I returned to London, nobody in the industry cared that I had a degree.
I had to work my way up.
If I could go back in time, I dont know if I would do it the same way.
People seem to be very impressed with British filmmaking talent.
People listen when we speak.
DEADLINE: Your lead actress Deba Hekmat.
Is this her first film?
Ive never seen her before.
NATHWANI: This is her second film.
She was inHoard, directed by Luna Carmoon.
I didnt know that she could act, but she had the right look for the character.
But her background is in modeling.
She was street cast at a modeling agency when she was 14 or 15.
She had never done any formal acting training.
She sent in a tape.
And then she came in for a callback.
She was one of three actors that came back in.
She just had this incredible talent for communicating a lot with her eyes.
So she won us over that day.
And then it was just supporting her, giving her some training, and building the team around her.
It was a risk giving the lead role to someone who had never really acted in this way before.
But I think she ended up doing a tremendous job, and Im proud of her.
Shes got a stellar career ahead.
DEADLINE: What do you plan on doing next?
NATHWANI:Id love to shoot my next project in the U.S.
This film is a love letter to London but also an exploration of the power of Iranian women.
The next one is going to be the opposite.
Its going to be a film about about toxic masculinity.
