PERFECT Sheds Light on the Grossly Overlooked Sport of Synchronized Swimming

By: Feb. 23, 2017
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So you thought the decathlon was the most grueling of the summer Olympic sports? Well then you haven't researched synchronized swimming, one of only two Olympic sports that solely women participate in. Broken noses and limbs, concussions, tears, pulls, and dislocations are all too common within this sport. Aside from the injuries, there's also the inconsistent judging standards and the need for teams to look the same, which make it that much harder to be successful, to be, well, perfect. This documentary, aptly titled Perfect, was directed by Jérémie Battaglia, who became interested in the subject from a friend who works for the Canadian synchronized swimming team.

See the US Premier of 'Perfect' on Saturday February 25 and Tuesday February 28 at Cinema Village (22 East 12th Street, New York NY 10003) as part of the 6th Annual Winter Film Awards Indie Film Festival.

This documentary follows the 2015/2016 Canadian Olympic synchronized swimming team. It starts off with a promising win at the Toronto games, only to lose out at the World Championships - not even placing. This sets up the team as the underdogs and we follow them through a grueling training period that leads up to the Olympic tryouts in Rio. For those who didn't follow the 2016 Rio Olympics, I won't give away any spoilers, but I will say I hope to see most of these ladies returning to the team for Tokyo 2020.

I had the pleasure of speaking with Jérémie Battaglia about the film and what drove him to make it.

"I made this film out of a basic desire to do justice to this sport and to help these athletes overcome negative stereotypes, but it also gave me the opportunity to identify some of my own deep, personal questions," said Battaglia. "These girls are obsessed with perfection and I found myself questioning my own obsessive quest for perfection in what I'm doing, as well as issues related to the concept of beauty and appearance. I learned a lot from them during this project."

Synchronized swimming is one of only two Olympic sports, the other being rhythmic gymnastics, that only women compete in. This may be why so many of us know so little about it. We see the flashy costumes, the plastic smiles, the vibrant makeup and we laugh. Battaglia even sent me a Buzzfeed article from 2012 that's just photos of synchro swimmers competing, pointing out how scary and ridiculous they look freeze framed. There was no actual mention of the sport itself or why the women have to look and dress alike. A lifetime of practicing this sport is boiled down to a silly photo, which makes it easier to dismiss synchronized swimming altogether.

Elaborating more on these preconceived ideas and stereotypes about the sport Battaglia explained, "I would say I had sexist prejudices because at the time, I thought it was not really a sport. The only information I had until then was that it's women only and an artistic sport, which are not real sports. My initial research revealed the same prejudices in the media, in the sporting world, everywhere. It was the same mockery suffered by many artistic and/or female sports. In this team I saw an opportunity, as with all my projects, to learn more about my own preconceptions. So I followed the team as a photographer and started observing their daily routine for a little bit more than a year before even filming a single frame."

As we learn more about the team and the sport through the film, a poignant moment arises when team captain Marie-Lou Morin admitted to the team that she had been struggling with an eating disorder. Because of the harsh focus and judging on the women's physique and overall look, eating disorders are sadly prevalent throughout the sport.

"I would say it's the main problem in this sport and that's the difficulty of a sport where you are judged on not just your performance but your look too. This is really specific to synchro but eating disorders are common in the world of sports," said Battaglia.

To recap, these women face constant injuries, grueling practices, and harsh critiques of their appearances which often lead to eating disorders. But there's something else stacked against them, too; the judges who are not forced to adhere to a set of ruling standards, meaning they can be as subjective as they like. If for whatever reason, the judges didn't like a team's choreography or overall look, no matter how precise the team was, the judges can give them a low score. Skills don't matter if the look isn't right. We see the coach battling against this after the World Championships, trying to figure out why her team was scored so low. Although it seems unfair, as Battaglia pointed out to me, there's not much you can do to change FINA (Fédération Internationale de Natation), the international governing body of swimming, diving, water polo, synchronized swimming, and open water swimming. Teams have to constantly update routines and costumes to try and work around the inconsistencies within judging.

Perfect, beautifully shot, gives audiences an in-depth look into the surprisingly fascinating and overlooked sport of synchronized swimming. Hopefully those who watch this film, and you definitely should, leave with a newfound respect for these determined female athletes. I know who I'll be cheering for in 2020.

About Winter Film Awards Indie Film Festival

Winter Film Awards Is New York City. Like the city itself, we showcase the eclectic diversity and excitement of the independent arts world. Winter Film Awards is proudly one of the Top 10 Best Reviewed Festivals on FilmFreeway.

The rapidly growing Winter Film Awards Indie Film Festival, now in its sixth year, is a dynamic and exciting event in the heart of the City. Winter Film Awards showcases films from emerging filmmakers from around the world in all genres with a special emphasis on highlighting the work of women and minority filmmakers. The Festival runs February 23-March 4 2017 in New York City.

Among the 88 Official Selections to be screened at Cinema Village in the heart of Greenwich Village (22 East 12th Street, New York, NY 10003), is a diverse mixture of 11 Animated films, 8 Documentaries, 11 Feature narratives, 10 Horror films, 12 Music Videos, 24 Narrative shorts and 7 Web series, including 12 student films and 33 first-time filmmakers. Filmmakers come from 30 countries; 42% of the films were created by women, 45% were created by people of color. Visit www.WinterFilmAwards.com for schedules, tickets and details!

About Winter Film Awards

Winter Film Awards is an all-volunteer, minority- and women-owned registered 501(c)3 non-profit organization founded in 2011 in New York City by a group of filmmakers and enthusiasts. The program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.

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By Lisa Monaco. Lisa Monaco has a bachelor's degree in journalism and media studies from Rutgers and interned with SiriusXM Radio and Fresh 102.7 WWFS-FM during her academic career. Since graduating, she has spent her time working in public relations and marketing. Born and raised in the small neighborhood of Gravesend in Brooklyn, NY, you can often find her strolling along the Coney Island boardwalk in her free time.



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