Joachim Rønning interview; ‘Young Woman and the Sea’ director
“This is a story for the daughters of the world,” declares director Joachim Ronning about honoring the legacy of the young woman at the center of the inspirational story at the heart of ‘Young Woman and the Sea.’ For our recent webchat he adds, “if there’s anything that I am drawn to, it’s true stories and especially true stories that I haven’t heard before. So when I heard this story about Trudy Ederle, I was baffled that I hadn’t heard it before, because it was such a worldwide event when it happened a hundred years ago, and then she’s been forgotten in time. I’m so thrilled that we have been given this opportunity to retell her story for the world. And also I just want to add that I have teenage daughters of my own, and I am always looking for stories for them, and I think [writer] Jeff Nathanson also has a similar story. I was so happy to be able to find this story for them.” Watch our video interview above.
“Young Woman and the Sea” is the inspirational true story of competitive swimmer Ederle, who overcomes adversity and the stringent gender norms of 1920s America to become the first woman to complete the arduous 21-mile journey from France to England by swimming solo across the English Channel. Rønning directed the Jerry Bruckheimer-produced biopic, with a screenplay by Nathanson (“Catch Me If You Can”), which was adapted from author Glenn Stout‘s 2009 novel of the same name. The sports drama stars Daisy Ridley (“Star Wars: The Force Awakens”), who delivers a tour-de-force performance as Ederle, alongside co-stars Tilda Cobham-Hervey, Stephen Graham, Kim Bodnia, Christopher Eccleston, and Glenn Fleshler.
Rønning chose to film much of the film’s action out on the high sea, in the frigid Black Sea off the coast of Bulgaria. For the helmer, best known for his breakthrough Oscar-nominated “Kon-Tiki,” another film set in the ocean, it was important that the ‘audience can feel it that this is done ‘old school.’ This is old school filmmaking where we are out there for weeks and weeks and getting the shots in camera and trying to tell the story.’ Rønning says the film wouldn’t have been as well-received as it is without Ridley’s compelling performance, noting that “very few people, men or women, could do what she ended up doing physically in this movie while being in the ocean, in the currents like 60, 61 degrees, day in, day out, and acting, delivering lines and being emotional and getting that across. We’re not out there risking our lives for our beliefs, like Trudy did back in the day. But we are out there, and we are doing it for real.”
He’s also ultimately overwhelmed with the reception the film has received to date, admitting that “it’s everything you dream about when you are making any movie, any big endeavor,” he says. “I get daily emails and DMs and texts from people all over the world that have seen the film. I’ve never gotten that before on that level. It’s like all the hard work that you put into it is paid off in that way, and it all started with Trudy, a hundred years ago. And then, Glenn Stout’s book, and then this amazing, wonderful script by Jeff Nathanson. And then the production design on Nora Ekberg. The photography of Oscar Faura, and the music of Amelia Warner, and so on. Everybody is sacrificing two years of their lives to make something like this. So I feel I have at the end of the day the biggest responsibility to put it all together and to create something unique and special and when people recognize that, it’s obviously the best feeling in the world.”
