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

Young Woman

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 Rønning was also inspired when he heard about Gertrude ‘Trudy' 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 première this month.

Joachim Ronning

Young 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 achievement - a 21-mile trek from France to England. In conversation with mid-day, 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 partner.

Edited excerpts from the interview.

What about the subject inspired you so much that you decided to take it up?
For 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 story - obviously, the drama. But it was also very emotional, scary, funny, and extremely inspirational. I felt baffled that I hadn't heard about Gertrude ‘Trudy' Ederle. I hadn't heard about the seismic event 100 years ago, which probably changed women's 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 audience.

What was more challenging - to cast an Olympic swimmer and get her to act, or shooting in the water?
Making 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 well.

Was there any risk to life involved while shooting?
Somehow [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 possible.

How did Daisy agree to swim across the English Channel?
Daisy 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 time - the 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 stamina.

What kind of impact do you think a movie like this would have?
I 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 made.

The one who inspired
>> Trudy Ederle swam the English Channel in 14 hours and 31 minutes.
>> Ederle eventually lost her hearing. She dedicated her life to teaching deaf children to swim.
>> Ederle died in 2003 at the age of 98.