To celebrate International Women's Day on 8th March, in collaboration with Gloucester Guildhall, Hundred Heroines is delighted to host the public premiere of Jillian Edelstein's award-winning short documentary film The Water Rats.
Shot during the 2020 Covid-19 lockdown, this film chronicles the lives of a group of wild swimmers, of different ages, backgrounds and ethnicities, as they forge a lasting bond while swimming in London’s wild cold waters, escaping each day as conspirators in the untamed parts of an urban jungle.
"Lockdown happened and all the projects that I had been working on were kind of frozen. All the work seized. I … ground to a halt like a lot of people did” says Jillian who was invited by Carla, one of the swimmers, to join the group. “One morning in the dead of winter, I found myself sneaking over fences, and doing anything to get my fix.”
Comprising interviews, Jillian’s stills and footage shared by the swimmers, The Water Rats offers a candid account of how a group of strangers bonded over a common passion for wild water swimming, and forged lasting friendships.
The screening will be followed by a Q&A with Jillian. This is a fantastic opportunity to learn more about the making of the film, and Jillian's career in general.
Doors open at 16.45, for 17.00 start.
About Jillian
Jillian Edelstein is a South African born photographer based in London. She began working as a press photographer, before moving to London, in the eighties, to study photojournalism. Throughout her career, Jillian has taken portraits of people across a diverse spectrum — from marginalised communities to celebrities. Her work has been featured in publications including The New York Times and Vogue, and exhibited internationally including at the National Portrait Gallery, The Photographers' Gallery, The Royal Academy, OXO Gallery in London, and Sothebys.
Between 1996 and 2002 Jillian frequently returned to South Africa to document the work of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, a court-like restorative justice body set up in the country in 1996, to help address the abuse and human rights violations that took place during the apartheid. Subsequently, Jillian published her book Truth and Lies, in 2002, which also won the John Kobal Book Award. The book represents a unique visual account of both the victims’ and the offenders’ stories.
In recent times, Jillian also served as the principal photographer for The Pixel Project, a virtual, volunteer-led non-profit organisation dedicated to end violence against women. She has photographed the charity’s celebrity role models for the Celebrity Male Role Model Pixel Reveal campaign, to raise awareness and generate funds to end violence against women, and equally importantly, to get more men to speak against gender-based violence.