Sink or Swim: Learning the Crawl in the Maldives (2015)

This delightful one-hour documentary about a group of volunteers teaching people to swim in the island nation south of India has human interest, magnificent locations, and a success story for the students, who live inches from sea level but had no skills.

Director/writer Jon Bowermaster keeps it moving on land and in the sea, as 48 third graders and eighteen burka-clad (!) mothers test the waters for the first time. He has made a number of other documentaries, most of which are water-based. No cinematographer is listed so we assume Bowermaster is behind the camera as well, creating the beautiful images.

Not surprisingly, the soundtrack by Steve Gorn isn't available online, but I am enjoying streaming some of his music. Here's one Indian-tinged track on Apple Music.

It brought to mind The Island President, the 2011 feature-length documentary about the leader of the Maldives, facing catastrophe from climate change.

Sink or Swim came to my attention because of an email this fall inviting me and other Film Independent members to stream movies from a festival. Then I missed the timeline but was able to rent it on October 13. Because the movie isn't easy to find, I'll give you the links for your viewing pleasure, available for a small fee on iTunes and Prime (here's also a link for The Island President on Apple TV). Sink or Swim has no entry on Rotten Tomatoes but we liked it a lot.