Last Swim

In Last Swim, ambitious 18-year-old Ziba is at a turning point in her life. Although she is proud of her Iranian heritage and has secured a place at University College London to study astrophysics, she is determined to make an irreversible decision that, she believes, will put her back in control of her life. A dark shadow looms over her future, but on graduation day, she wants to forget that and just have fun with her friends.

Sasha Nathwani, the British son of an Iranian mother and an Indian father, makes his feature film debut with the tragicomic coming-of-age about Ziba who is about to become an adult. With a mesmerising performance by Deba Hekmat as Ziba, this film won the Crystal Bear for Best Film at the Berlinale in the Generation 14plus competition. Last Swim modestly but powerfully shows how young adults deal with insecurities and dreams that slowly fade away.