Swim Sistas is an award-winning short documentary celebrating the power of water, sisterhood, and reclamation. Directed by Catherine Joy White and narrated by Academy Award nominee Naomie Harris, the film follows a group of Black British women as they rediscover their connection to swimming and open-water spaces — areas from which they have historically been excluded. In just eleven minutes, Swim Sistas becomes a lyrical meditation on belonging, confidence, and the quiet radicalism of joy.
The result is a visually poetic and deeply human portrait — part documentary, part love letter to water — that amplifies voices rarely seen in aquatic storytelling. Swim Sistas has since resonated with international audiences, praised for its intimacy, its beauty, and its refusal to reduce its subjects to barriers alone, instead foregrounding joy, agency, and sisterhood.
As executive producer on the film, I wanted to signal my wider commitment, through Dark Coast Media and beyond, to champion projects that broaden the cultural lens and elevate underrepresented perspectives. Swim Sistas stands as a testament to what happens when powerful stories are given space to breathe — and when communities reclaim narratives that have long been held from them.
Starring Alice Dearing, Lexie Sandiford, Jasmine Boatswain, Roni Bruno and Naomie Harris
Director: Catherine Joy White 
Writer / Original Poetry: Catherine Joy White 
Producers: Anaïs Ferrato, Oriane Pick 
Executive Producers: Afua Hirsch, Amandla Crichlow, Catherine Joy White, Nasri Atallah, Sami Moughrabie 
Director of Photography: Martyna Knitter 
Editor: Sakky Barnor 
Composer: Hollie Buhagiar