Men Who Swim is a humorous and poignant look at a group of middle aged men who have found unlikely success as members of Sweden's all male synchronized swimming team. What began as a weekly escape from the daily grind of work and family responsibilities, gradually evolved into a more serious commitment. Inspired by classical Esther Williams techniques from the 1950s, this group of train drivers and meat buyers, archivists and teachers soon became passionate exponents of the sport.

Men Who Swim

As the HIV epidemic spread around the world in the early 1980's panic broke out. In Sweden alone newspapers predicted that over a million people would die before the year 2000. HIV patients were often kept under lock and key as authorities struggled to know what to do and the public in general believed anything they heard. Using unique and often very telling archive material, this film will weave the compelling and emotive stories of people whose lives were changed forever by the 'virus from hell'. As we look into the not so distant past and observe the reflex actions of our society when under threat, this film asks what we have learned from our experience and whether it will allow us to deal with the next crisis differently?