Talented and ambitious Ziba has just passed her exams with flying colors, allowing her to pursue her dream of becoming an astrophysicist. However, her carefree celebration is overshadowed by a secret she’s hiding from her friends.

The film won the Crystal Bear at the Berlinale.

Film Expert recommends

The feature debut of a filmmaker with Persian roots, whose port folio has so far consisted mainly of music videos and short films. In Last Swim, he introduces audiences to an 18-year-old high school graduate, proud of both her Iranian heritage and her British opportunities. But the potential portrait of the brightest high school graduate with the chance of a career in astrophysics is a trap for the viewer; this is not that piece! Instead, this is a cinema of paradoxes – a highly sensual, vital, energetic and graceful protagonist turns out to be a film-legend, a picture with a mystery whose explanation changes everything. The strength of this work is undoubtedly the creation of the main character, Ziba – she is played by Deba Hekmat, a Kurdish-British model and now primarily a writer and actress, who can be seen in Luna Carmoon’s equally excellent Treasures (2023). Our Last Immersion is a dance of Eros and Thanatos on screen, with Hekmat playing first fiddle, mesmerising the viewer with her beauty and talent. Multicultural British cinema once again proves to be the most appropriate place for such phenomenal artists and performers.

Jacek Nowakowski

The film will be followed by a conversation with Joanna Kopycka from Empowering Children Foundation