The sink or swim life of Sara Mardini
Daniel Nelson
First came The Swimmers - a flashy dramatisation of the adventures of the Syrian sisters who risked their already endangered lives by jumping from an overcrowded refugee boat and pulling and pushing it for three-and-a-half hours to safety in Lesbos.
Now comes the documentary, Long Distance Swimmer — Sara Mardini, in which sister Sara faces an on-land hazard: a potential 20-year jail sentence in Greece from a barrage of charges, including espionage and aiding illegal immigration.
The charges were made in 2018 after she had been helping migrant survivors for three years, handing out water bottles and translating. (“We were put in prison because we decided to save lives.”) The case has been repeatedly postponed. The delay seems to arise from either incompetence or harassment and intimidation, tactics adopted by a number of European governments in an effort to stop humanitarian organisations from fighting state attempts to deter asylum-seekers.
She was held in prison for more than 100 days, and when released on bail moved back to Berlin, where she had trekked, bussed and trained after her Greek landing. The film paints a picture of her life there, at university and in night clubs, campaigning, being tattooed, dealing with depression, as she works out who she is and how to live.
She recalls laughing so hard when she was diagnosed with depression and PTSD “because we don’t talk about such things — I come from Syria!”
Key figures in her life include a co-NGO worker, Sean Binder, who was arrested alongside her and faces similar charges, and her mother, who took the boat journey from Turkey to Greece to be with her after realising that an application for family reunion might take three years to process.
Younger sister Yusra is also central, sometimes as rival (Yusra swims for the refugee team at the Olympics), sometimes as confidante, but Sara is clear: “I don’t want to be her shadow and I don’t want her to be mine.”
Their parents encouraged them to swim from a young age. They grew up in a swimming pool. “Instead of blood,” she says of the family, “we had water.” They left Syria after their local pool was bombed.
Given that she has already been a successful swimmer, a global hero, a humanitarian worker, a prisoner, a symbol for harassed small boat rescuers, has serious legal charges hanging over her and carries physical and mental injuries from her exploits, it’s not surprising that she wrestles with her beliefs, her situation and her emotions. “Who are you to decide that I can leave that person to drown?,’ she muses. “Who are you to give me laws to follow when you yourself are not following it?”
She’s as argumentative as she is likely to burst into tears. “How do my friends deal with me?” she wonders. “I’m so intense.”
That’s what gives the film its edge. She can be tough on herself and on others. Addressing protesters she questions whether they are taking action to seriously tackle problems, beyond turning up and waving banners, or are they — are we — merely maintaining normality, reinforcing the status quo?
Meanwhile, as Sara continues to search for answers to questions in her personal and political life, her co-accused Binder points out, “We have to wait in limbo, unable to continue with our lives for this trial to finally get its act together, for this prosecution to do their job correctly.” It’s state torture against people whose aim is to help others.
* Long Distance Swimmer — Sara Mardini is showing at the Raindance Film Festival in London, 25 October- 4 November