Joachim Rønning: ‘Made the film for my two daughters’

A true story when told irrespective of the era it happened in is bound to inspire Such is the case with Young Woman and the Sea The film is based on the 2009 book by Glenn Stout titled Young Woman and the Sea How Trudy Ederle Conquered the English Channel and Inspired the World Director Joachim Roslashnning was also inspired when he heard about Gertrude lsquoTrudyrsquo Ederle who was the first woman to cross the English Channel at a time when women were not allowed to expose their skin in swimsuits and their participation in sports was an uncommon concept While the Disney Hotstar film was released in theatres worldwide in May India had a delayed OTT premiegravere this monthJoachim RonningYoung Woman and the Sea is about a woman who was born to immigrant parents in New York City in 1905 Through the steadfast support of her older sister and encouraging trainers she overcame adversity and the animosity of a patriarchal society to rise through the ranks of the Olympic swimming team and complete the staggering achievementmdasha 21mile trek from France to England In conversation with midday the director expressed his desire and what propelled him to tell the story of the challenges a woman faced when crossing the dangerous water of the English Channel on her own terms inspiring young girls to think beyond finding a suitable partnerEdited excerpts from the interviewWhat about the subject inspired you so much that you decided to take it upFor me just reading the script by Jeff Nathanson for the first time was inspiring It was such a remarkable story It had everything that I look for in a storymdashobviously the drama But it was also very emotional scary funny and extremely inspirational I felt baffled that I hadnrsquot heard about Gertrude lsquoTrudyrsquo Ederle I hadnrsquot heard about the seismic event 100 years ago which probably changed womenrsquos sports forever I felt very lucky first of all to be able to be a part of such a project and to retell this story to a modern audienceWhat was more challengingmdashto cast an Olympic swimmer and get her to act or shooting in the waterMaking any movie or any big project that involves a lot of people is ambitious and is always going to be challenging But when you add water to that the challenge increases It was important for me to shoot the film in the open ocean I wanted to have Daisy Ridley in the real element Obviously it is challenging to have so many moving pieces and it was freezing Despite having an actor swim all day for weeks until her lips turned blue that is challenging but I think it was important as wellWas there any risk to life involved while shootingSomehow the shoot informed us along the way a little bit about how it was for Trudy when she swam the English Channel Not that we were not risking our lives obviously but nothing like she did I hope that the audience can somehow feel that we did it by keeping it as real as possibleHow did Daisy agree to swim across the English ChannelDaisy was incredibly intent on getting the physical part of her role as accurate as possible She could swim of course but she had to learn how to swim in freezing open water and the challenges that come with that She also had to adapt her swimming to suit the timemdashthe sport has changed over the years since Trudy was in the water Her commitment to the character and her spirit stayed strong despite battling exhaustion We had to fish her out of the freezing water after each take and heat her up and she never complained Her lips were blue and she was always eager to jump back in I was blown away by her staminaWhat kind of impact do you think a movie like this would haveI hope as many people as possible will see it I personally made the film for my two daughters I wanted to find an inspirational story for them This in a way is a story for the daughters of the world I hope that it can reach out because it is important to know our history Young Woman and the Sea is such a gripping true story about a girl who was willing to sacrifice everything in order to prove her point I hope people can feel the connection we madeThe one who inspiredgtgt Trudy Ederle swam the English Channel in 14 hours and 31 minutesgtgt Ederle eventually lost her hearing She dedicated her life to teaching deaf children to swimgtgt Ederle died in 2003 at the age of 98