A Film Called Blacks Can’t Swim

This semi-documentary, directed and edited by the pseudonymous Mysterex, is essentially a hortatory piece encouraging blacks to learn to swim—something that in Africa (and apparently Britain, where the film was made) is considered culturally unnecessary, and even dangerous. Much of this short film is devoted to interview clips with people who, despite their fears, have learned to swim and now enjoy swimming in pools for fun and exercise; unfortunately, the sound recording in these segments is mediocre, far too resonant for clarity’s sake. Animated inserts separate the interview montages from brief scenes telling an odd fictional tale about Frank (played, rather hysterically, by British hip-hop artist Ed Accura), who is terrified by news reports of floods and hurricanes, and keeps hearing the voice of a screeching woman in his mind telling him that learning to swim is impossible. To protect himself from drowning, Frank decides to wear a life jacket all the time, even when he sleeps—although that voice keeps haunting his dreams, so he often awakens screaming. But his wife and young daughter prod him to take ionswimming lessons, and by the end Frank is shown taking off the jacket and jumping into a pool. A photograph of a smiling Simone Manuel, a multiple medal winner at the 2016 Olympics, confirms that blacks can indeed swim, and very well. Well-intended but not well-made, this is not recommended. Aud: C, P. (F. Swietek)