Last Swim

After honing his skills as a director on a number of well-received shorts, Sasha Nathwani made his feature debut with Last Swim, winning the Crystal Bear in the Berlin Film Festival’s Generation strand. Set over the course of the day on which a group of friends led by Ziba (the electrifying Deba Hekmat) receive their A Level results, we follow the group as they adhere to Ziba’s meticulously planned timetable for celebration, even as it is almost derailed by the unexpected arrival of Malcolm (Denzel Baidoo), an older boy not part of her core group of friends. Although Ziba and Malcolm seem to have assured their glittering futures, unlike the friends who face uncertainty, they are both hiding secrets that cast shadows on their plans. Nathwani’s film, a stirring blend of the hope and melancholy that attends visions of the future, makes for a striking debut.