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I wanted to make a happy film. A film that would speak to people of all ages and backgrounds. A visually stunning film — a cinematic experience for the big screen. A film with an uplifting soundtrack reflecting the spirit of the 60’s, with a sound score that immerses viewers in the world of the pool.
THE POOL is largely a film about nothing, but it’s also a film about everything. While the central character is the pool itself, it also highlights the importance of community and our yearning for it. It’s a film about friendship, and commitment, love and loss, sickness and health, physical and mental wellbeing, routine and security, conquering one’s fears and being accepted regardless of who you are or where you are from. At the pool everyone is equal in their swim suits.
For more than 20 years I’ve been making and supporting social impact documentaries, dealing with some of the most challenging topics in our community — racism, child protection and abuse, youth homelessness, climate change, domestic violence, and teenage incarceration. I have long believed in the power of documentary for social change. Films that can shape attitudes, behaviour and even laws in this country.
More recently, however, I wanted to make a shift and create a film that might bring great joy and happiness to audiences, one that might put a smile on their faces and allow them to dream a little in their own lives.
I have typically made films where I have felt a strong connection. THE POOL is one such film. While searching for the next story, I suddenly realised that Bondi Icebergs was right under my nose! Swimming is my main form of exercise. I swim about five times a week — in pools, bays and the ocean, even when the temperature plummets. But my favourite place to swim is at the beautiful Bondi Icebergs pool — the most photographed pool in the world.
This is a time for gentle, poetic, meditative films to find a place in the canon. We will always need documentaries that highlight injustice, human rights abuses, environmental destruction, and a myriad of other problems. But sometimes we need films that make us feel good about being human again too, and, perhaps, now more than ever.
Ian Darling
Director THE POOL
October 2024
Good Weekend Talks — Konrad Marshall (audio)
Good Weekend — David Leser
The Australian — Chris Kenny (video)
The Curb — Andrew Peirce (audio)
See Do Eat Review — Shane Berketa (video)
Movie Metropolis — Peter Krausz (video)
What’s The Show? — Melissa Marsh
IRResistible Magazine — Catherine de Clare
3CR Radio Local — Annie McLoughlin (audio)
ABC listen The Drawing Room/Drive — Andy Park (audio)
FilmInk — Christine Westwood
The Movie Club — Luke McWilliams (audio)
2SER Celluloid Dreams — Evan Shapiro (audio at 0:07:05)
ABC Sunshine Coast Breakfast — Tim Wong-See
3WBC Movies at Dusk — Greg King (audio download)
Novastream — Nick L’Barrow
Concrete Playground — Sarah Ward
The Bugle — Lleyton Hughes
Eastside FM — Miah Smiles interview with Ian Darling (audio)
Eastside FM — Harvey Andrews interview with Margaret Simpson Lee (audio)
SwimTrek — Jack Hudson
Bondi Observer — Remo Giuffré
3RRR Radio Marinara — Bron Burton and Cabin Boy (audio)
ABC News — George Freeman (article)
ABC News Breakfast — Zak Hepburn (video)
3CR — Sharon Hurst
Morning Bondi — Amaury Treguer
Sydney Arts Guide — David Kary
The Film Pie — Matthew Toomey
ScreenDaily — Sandy George
Bondi Icebergs is the most photographed pool in the world. For nearly a century this spectacular 50 metre stretch of sparkling blue at the southern end of Bondi Beach has occupied a special corner in the hearts of millions.
This is where generations of children have learnt to swim, where the diehard have braved the frigid waters of one hundred winters, where the young and beautiful have come to bond and bake in the hot sun, and where sightseers from around the world have taken refuge during the scorching heights of endless Australian summers.
Icebergs is at once a meeting place, a resting place, a workout place and a place of romance and ritual. We come to understand that for those who seek it out, and return, it is a symbol of inclusivity, healing and resilience.
THE POOL is a stunning cinematic experience with a soundtrack that harks back to the 1960s and a cast of characters who each have a story to tell; breezy, heart-warming, funny and poignant. It speaks to the enduring power of community and our collective longing to find it, whoever we are and wherever we come from. No matter your background or where you’re at — everyone is equal in their swimsuits.
Directed by
IAN DARLING
Produced by
MARY MACRAE
IAN DARLING
Editor
SALLY FRYER ASE
Director of Photography
BEN CUNNINGHAM ACS
Composer & Sound Designer
PAUL CHARLIER
Executive Producer
MARGARET SIMPSON-LEE
Executive Producer
PAUL WIEGARD
Executive Producer
GERALYN WHITE DREYFOUS
Executive Producer
KATE HODGES
Colourist
ANGELA CERASI
Re-recording Mixer
ANDY WRIGHT
Sound Recording
MARY MACRAE
EMMA DARLING
Production Assistant
ALISHA MANNING
Digital Manager
RHYS MORRIS
Poster Design
RACHEL DIGHT
Bondi Icebergs is the most photographed pool in the world. For nearly a century this spectacular 50 metre stretch of sparkling blue at the southern end of Bondi Beach has occupied a special corner in the hearts of millions.
This is where generations of children have learnt to swim, where the diehard have braved the frigid waters of one hundred winters, where the young and beautiful have come to bond and bake in the hot sun, and where sightseers from around the world have taken refuge during the scorching heights of endless Australian summers.
Icebergs is at once a meeting place, a resting place, a workout place and a place of romance and ritual. We come to understand that for those who seek it out, and return, it is a symbol of inclusivity, healing and resilience.
THE POOL is a stunning cinematic experience with a soundtrack that harks back to the 1960s and a cast of characters who each have a story to tell; breezy, heart-warming, funny and poignant. It speaks to the enduring power of community and our collective longing to find it, whoever we are and wherever we come from. No matter your background or where you’re at — everyone is equal in their swimsuits.
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IAN DARLING
Director
Ian Darling is an award-winning documentary filmmaker. He is Executive Director of Shark Island Institute and Chair of Shark Island Foundation.
His Director and Producer credits for Shark Island Productions include THE TWINS, THE FINAL QUARTER, PAUL KELLY — STORIES OF ME, THE OASIS, SUZY & THE SIMPLE MAN, IN THE COMPANY OF ACTORS, ALONE ACROSS AUSTRALIA, WOODSTOCK FOR CAPITALISTS, POLLY & ME and THE COMEDIAN. He was also a Producer on THE DEPARTMENT, LIFE AFTER THE OASIS, WALL BOY and STORIES FROM THE INSIDE, and an Executive Producer of FLY, WASH MY SOUL IN THE RIVER’S FLOW, PAPER AND GLUE, ALLEN V. FARROW, ON THE RECORD, 2040, THE FOURTH ESTATE, THE BLEEDING EDGE, UNREST, INVENTING TOMORROW and HOW TO CHANGE THE WORLD.
Ian Darling is currently directing and producing the feature documentaries THE SWIMMING POOL and THE VALLEY.
He co-wrote and acted in the award-winning play THE TWINS, a two-hander with comedian Greg Fleet. In 2021 the play was performed over 75 shows in Adelaide, Sydney, Kangaroo Valley, Canberra and Melbourne.
His photographs have been finalists in the National Photographic Portrait Prize, the Moran Contemporary Photographic Prize, the Sydney Life Photography Prize and the Head On Portrait Prize.
Ian Darling was Chair of The Caledonia Foundation from 2002 to 2022. He was Founder (and former Chair) of Documentary Australia Foundation, and Founder of Good Pitch Australia, which funded and helped create 19 social impact documentaries and outreach campaigns. He is a Member of the Impact Partners Advisory Board in New York. He was a former Chair of Sydney Theatre Company and STC Foundation, and a Director of National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) and The Salvation Army Advisory Board.
He received the Byron Kennedy Award for innovation and the relentless pursuit of excellence at the 2018 AACTA Awards. Ian received the AFI/AACTA Award for Best Direction in a Documentary, has twice been a Walkley Awards Finalist, a winner of two Film Critics Award, and nominated for numerous Australian Directors Guild, AFI/AACTA, and IF awards. He was named Australia’s Leading Philanthropist by Philanthropy Australia in 2017.
He is a recipient of the Creative Partnerships Australia Business Leadership Award, and his homeless film project THE OASIS was named one of ‘Australia’s Top 50 Philanthropic Gifts of All Time.’ In 2018 Ian Darling was appointed an Officer (AO) of the Order of Australia for distinguished service to documentary film production, to the performing arts, education and community engagement, and to social welfare organisations through philanthropic endeavours.
He has an MBA from IMD Switzerland, and a BA (Acc.) from the Australian National University.
