2012 • 27' • French
Director(s): Yannick Charles • Producer(s): Grand Angle Productions • Coproducer(s): France Télévisions • Format(s): HD
Aphelile has been able to swim since the age of 12. He lives some dozen miles from the centre of Cape Town near the Monwabisi beach that adjoins the last remaining “sharks” of Khayelistha, the most deprived shanty towns in the giant agglomeration. This is where Aphelile lives. He is one of the rare breed of top-level, Black South African swimmers. An exception in a community that is barely familiar with the sea. In Cape Town, Monwabisi is the beach for the Black population. It’s a dangerous beach where every year the currents and the waves cause a string of drownings. A beach made all the more dangerous because most of those who go there cannot swim. For several years now, a swimming club at Monwabisi has been trying to knock the old ideas on the head: no, drowning is not a matter of fate; yes, Blacks can also learn to swim. This is Aphelile’s mission.
