''Learn to Swim'' is a Canadian drama film written by

Thyrone Tommy Thyrone Tommy is a Canadians, Canadian film director and screenwriter. After writing and directing the short film ''Mariner (film), Mariner'' (2016), Tommy received acclaim for his work on the feature film ''Learn to Swim'' (2021), both of which p ...

and Marni Van Dyk and directed by Tommy in his feature-length directorial debut. The film centres on a stormy romantic relationship between Dezi (

Thomas Antony Olajide Thomas Antony Olajide, sometimes also credited as Thomas Olajide, is a Canadian actor from Vancouver, British Columbia.

) and Selma (Emma Ferreira), two talented but troubled

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

musicians. The film premiered in the Discovery program at the

2021 Toronto International Film Festival The 2021 Toronto International Film Festival, the 46th event in the Toronto International Film Festival series, was held from September 9 to 18, 2021.Barry Hertz"TIFF planning ‘substantially bigger’ 2021 film festival compared to last year’ ...

. Both Olajide and Ferreira were named among TIFF's annual Rising Stars program for emerging actors.

Critical response

Norman Wilner of '' Now'' rated the film four N's, writing that "from one angle it could be '' A Star Is Born''; from another, maybe it's ''

Once Once means a one-time occurrence. Once may refer to: Music * ''Once'' (Pearl Jam song), a 1991 song from the album ''Ten'' * ''Once'' (Roy Harper album), a 1990 album by Roy Harper * ''Once'' (The Tyde album), a 2001 debut album by The Tyd ...

''. But music – especially jazz – is all about taking the standards and reinterpreting them into new forms, giving us something new that we can still recognize in flashes. That's what Tommy and co-writer Marni Van Dyk are doing with ''Learn To Swim'', scrambling time and weaving other storylines into Dezi and Selma's collaboration." For the ''

National Post The ''National Post'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet newspaper available in several cities in central and western Canada. The paper is the flagship publication of Postmedia Network and is published Mondays through Saturdays, with ...

'', Chris Knight wrote that "In all honestly you could probably sit back, close your eyes and just listen to the music, but then you’d be missing out on the beautifully interwoven story of romance. After all, when someone presents you with a lovingly crafted mix tape, you don’t just listen to side one."

Distribution

In 2022, the film was acquired for release on

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

by Ava Duvernary's distribution company ARRAY.

Awards

The film was a nominee for the

DGC Discovery Award DGC can refer to: Businesses and organizations * Darlton Gliding Club, Nottinghamshire, England * Daybreak Game Company, an American video game developer * Delhi Golf Club, Delhi, India * Deutsche Gesellschaft für Chronometrie, a German organizat ...

at the 2021 Directors Guild of Canada awards. and was named to TIFF's annual year-end Canada's Top Ten list for 2021. The film received two

Canadian Screen Award The Canadian Screen Awards (french: link=no, Les prix Écrans canadiens) are awards given for artistic and technical merit in the film industry recognizing excellence in Canadian film, English-language television, and digital media (web series) p ...

nominations at the

10th Canadian Screen Awards The 10th Canadian Screen Awards were held on April 10, 2022, to honour achievements in Canadian film, television and digital media production in 2021.Etan Vlessing"Maitreyi Ramakrishnan to Receive Canadian Screen Awards Special Honor" ''The Hollyw ...

in 2022, for

Best Actor Best Actor is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organizations, festivals, and people's awards to leading actors in a film, television series, television film or play. The term most often refers to th ...

(Olajide) and

Best Original Song This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...

("And Then We Don't" by

Tika Simone Tika Simone, also sometimes credited as TiKA, is a Canadian rhythm and blues singer. She is noted as a winner of the Canadian Screen Award for Best Original Song, at the 10th Canadian Screen Awards in 2022 for "And Then We Don't", a song she co-wr ...

and

Casey Manierka-Quaile Casey Manierka-Quaile, also known as Casey MQ, is a Canadian singer, musician, and writer. In 2022, he won the Canadian Screen Award for Best Original Song at the 10th Canadian Screen Awards for "And Then We Don't", a song he co-wrote with Tika Si ...

). Simone and Manierka-Quaile won Best Original Song."Night Raiders, Scarborough emerge victorious at 5th night of Canadian Screen Awards"

CBC News CBC News is a division of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the news gathering and production of news programs on the corporation's English-language operations, namely CBC Television, CBC Radio, CBC News Network, and CBC.ca. ...

, April 8, 2022.

References

External links

*{{IMDb title, 15138374 *
Learn to Swim
' at

Library and Archives Canada Library and Archives Canada (LAC; french: Bibliothèque et Archives Canada) is the federal institution, tasked with acquiring, preserving, and providing accessibility to the documentary heritage of Canada. The national archive and library is th ...

2021 films 2021 drama films Canadian romantic drama films English-language Canadian films Black Canadian films Jazz films 2020s English-language films 2020s Canadian films