We welcome Zaina onto the podcast for us to review The Swimmers!

Yusra and Sara Mardini are two real-life Syrian refugee sisters whose riveting and raw story has now been put to the screen in Sally El Hosaini’s The Swimmers, streaming now on Netflix. How well does the story do at conveying the visceral experience of refugees? What do we think of the characters as they’re translated from real life? What do we hope non-Arab and non-SWANA audiences take from this film? We also discuss Zaina’s career as a screenwriter, give our recommendations, and much more.

Swara’s interview with Director Sally El Hosaini for Nerds of Color

Read Hanna Flint’s The Swimmers review on Time Out

Pre-order Strong Female Character in the U.S.

Follow Zaina on Twitter @zainaujayli.

Our music is composed by Ashley Hefnawy. You can find more of her music here.

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