The Swimmers: Director and Co-Writer Sally El Hosaini on Discovering Your Directing Style
03/08/23 • 42 min
Welsh-Egyptian director and writer Sally El Hosaini is the director and co-writer of BAFTA nominated ‘The Swimmers’, a moving biographical drama that follows two teenage Syrian refugees who swim alongside a sinking dinghy full of refugees, guiding it to safety.
As a writer and director of Welsh and Egyptian heritage, Sally didn’t know she wanted to work in film until, as an Arabic Language and Middle Eastern Studies university student, she realised that she wanted to pursue a career that combined ‘images, words and people’.
She started out as a ‘do-it-all’ self-shooting AP, an experience she describes as ‘film school’, and ended up coming on board as a co-writer with Jack Thorne on ‘The Swimmers’ because she wanted to help create a genuine story for her teenage self.
However, ‘The Swimmers’ nearly didn’t come to fruition. Its production hampered by the pandemic, it was in part because of Sally’s ability to keep the faith and rally those around her that it finally hit our screens in 2022.
In this episode, Sally talks about the process of learning to let go of her expectations, and the beautiful, spontaneous discoveries that she made as a result of trusting that her path would find her.
In this episode Sally shares her advice on:
- following your joys and passions to find your career path
- building the right cast and crew for a project
In sharing her path into filmmaking, Sally reminds us of the importance of sharing stories as a tool to connect and understand more about the world
Please note that there may be some spoilers relating to the film in this episode
–
Women Behind the Scenes is hosted by Eloise Singer and produced by Ben Weaver-Hincks for Singer Studios.
Executive Producers - Eloise Singer and Cathy Anderson
Production Manager - Hannah Alexander
Post Production - Matt McGuinness
Editing, Mixing and Mastering - Tom Fred Bradshaw [iGame.Audio]
Music - PremiumBeat.com
Production Assistant - Lucy Davidson
–
Social Media:
Twitter @singerstudiosuk
Instagram @singerstudiosuk
Website: www.singerstudios.co.uk
Sally El Hosaini
Twitter: @sallyelh
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Welsh-Egyptian director and writer Sally El Hosaini is the director and co-writer of BAFTA nominated ‘The Swimmers’, a moving biographical drama that follows two teenage Syrian refugees who swim alongside a sinking dinghy full of refugees, guiding it to safety.
As a writer and director of Welsh and Egyptian heritage, Sally didn’t know she wanted to work in film until, as an Arabic Language and Middle Eastern Studies university student, she realised that she wanted to pursue a career that combined ‘images, words and people’.
She started out as a ‘do-it-all’ self-shooting AP, an experience she describes as ‘film school’, and ended up coming on board as a co-writer with Jack Thorne on ‘The Swimmers’ because she wanted to help create a genuine story for her teenage self.
However, ‘The Swimmers’ nearly didn’t come to fruition. Its production hampered by the pandemic, it was in part because of Sally’s ability to keep the faith and rally those around her that it finally hit our screens in 2022.
In this episode, Sally talks about the process of learning to let go of her expectations, and the beautiful, spontaneous discoveries that she made as a result of trusting that her path would find her.
In this episode Sally shares her advice on:
- following your joys and passions to find your career path
- building the right cast and crew for a project
In sharing her path into filmmaking, Sally reminds us of the importance of sharing stories as a tool to connect and understand more about the world
Please note that there may be some spoilers relating to the film in this episode
–
Women Behind the Scenes is hosted by Eloise Singer and produced by Ben Weaver-Hincks for Singer Studios.
Executive Producers - Eloise Singer and Cathy Anderson
Production Manager - Hannah Alexander
Post Production - Matt McGuinness
Editing, Mixing and Mastering - Tom Fred Bradshaw [iGame.Audio]
Music - PremiumBeat.com
Production Assistant - Lucy Davidson
–
Social Media:
Twitter @singerstudiosuk
Instagram @singerstudiosuk
Website: www.singerstudios.co.uk
Sally El Hosaini
Twitter: @sallyelh
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Previous Episode
Navalny: Producer Odessa Rae on High Stakes Filmmaking
Odessa Rae is the producer of the Oscar-nominated film ‘Navalny’, a powerful, fly-on-the-wall thriller documentary about the Russian politician who dared to speak out against Putin and survived a targeted assassination attempt as a result.
Odessa's belief in telling stories that need to be heard and her conviction in following her intuition is remarkable. A multi-lingual actor, writer and producer, Odessa and director Daniel Roher travelled to the Black Forest to film with Navalny and his team, sometimes for up to 20 hours a day, in the hopes of providing an intimate glimpse into his inspiring journey.
They also aimed to answer the question, ‘who tried to kill Navalny?’ Eventually, they captured an extraordinary conversation on camera, which went viral overnight and forms the heart of the documentary itself, which is both thrilling and harrowing in equal measure.
‘Navalny’, which has been described as ‘stunning’ (The Guardian) and containing ‘perhaps the most jaw-dropping phone call in the history of cinema’ (Filmspotting) premiered at Sundance in 2022, where it won ‘Best of Fest’ and the coveted ‘Audience Award’ for the US documentary competition.
In this episode Odessa tells us about
- following your intuition and taking risks
- navigating personal safety and security on a high stakes project
In sharing how she put everything on the line for this documentary, Odessa demonstrates the power of risk taking and trusting your gut in the creative process.
Please note that there may be some spoilers relating to the film in this episode
—
Women Behind the Scenes is hosted by Eloise Singer and produced by Ben Weaver-Hincks for Singer Studios.
Executive Producers - Eloise Singer and Cathy Anderson
Production Manager - Hannah Alexander
Post Production - Matt McGuinness
Editing, Mixing and Mastering - Tom Fred Bradshaw [iGame.Audio]
Music - PremiumBeat.com
Production Assistant - Lucy Davidson
–
Social Media:
Twitter @singerstudiosuk
Instagram @singerstudiosuk
Website: www.singerstudios.co.uk
Odessa Rae:
Instagram: @odxssarae @navalnydoc
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Next Episode
Rye Lane: Casting Director Kharmel Cochrane on Reframing Your Definition of Success
Kharmel Cochrane is one of the most recognised casting directors in the British film and television industry. Her latest project, the newly-released Rye Lane, is a rom-com set in South London over the course of one day. Directed by Raine Allen-Miller, this heart-warming, upbeat film caught the attention of critics when it premiered at Sundance and is coming out on Disney. The film owes much of its success to the fantastic central characters, expertly selected by Kharmel.
Rye Lane is just one of an array of films that Kharmel has worked on. Having casted projects such as The End of the F**king World, The Lighthouse, Mothering Sunday and Emerald Fennell’s upcoming project Saltburn, Kharmel is one of the most recognised casting directors in the British film and television industry.
At just 25 years old, she set up her own casting company, and in the time since has developed her own unique casting process which she tailors to each project. She’s also harnessed the ability to listen to her gut, noting that her fingers start tingling when she knows she’s found the right actor for the job.
Kharmel also shares her insights into the pressure that the film industry places on women, and her advice for reframing your definition of success; her own definition has evolved from wanting to win awards to being able to take a holiday without having to justify herself.
In this episode, Kharmel shares her advice on:
- Setting boundaries between work and your personal life
- Amplifying your voice
- Discovering your own definition of success to experience true creative fulfilment
Please note that there may be some spoilers relating to the film in this episode
–
Women Behind the Scenes is hosted by Eloise Singer and produced by Ben Weaver-Hincks for Singer Studios.
Executive Producers - Eloise Singer and Cathy Anderson
Production Manager - Hannah Alexander
Post Production - Matt McGuinness
Editing, Mixing and Mastering - Tom Fred Bradshaw [iGame.Audio]
Music - PremiumBeat.com
Production Assistant - Lucy Davidson
–
Social Media:
Twitter @singerstudiosuk
Instagram @singerstudiosuk
Website: www.singerstudios.co.uk
Kharmel Cochrane:
Twitter @kharmelcochrane
Instagram @kharmelcochranecasting
Website: https://kharmelcochrane.com/
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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