Bill Marsh can teach your kid to swim.
In fact, he may be better at it than anyone else.
For little kids, the 8-day-long process can be traumatic at first.
Blake takes the plunge in ‘A Swim Lesson’Le Train Train
McCormack, Jones, and producer Emily Arlook all put their kids through Marshs program.
Definitely, there was high drama, she recalls.
Emily said, You guys should make a documentary.
Directors Rashida Jones and Will McCormackCourtesy of Sam Jones and Will McCormack
We said, Yeah, absolutely.
Something that felt like it should be completely quotidian and mundane and ordinary suddenly became extraordinary.
Theres a built in narrative structure to the class a beginning, middle and end.
But Marsh remains resolute, never giving in to pleas, no matter how fraught with emotion.
Parents can observe from a distance, but theyre not allowed to intervene.
Excruciating, is how McCormack remembers having to watch from afar.
It is human nature to want to prevent your kids from experiencing pain, but thats not possible… And its really, really hard, but its part of the process of letting go.
His love of what he does its not like, I love kids!
Hes not like a clown, observes Jones.
He treats the kids with dignity and respect, says McCormack.
Okay, youre doing something youve never done before.
It could kill you.
Beautiful photography below and above the surface shows the kids gradually master a skill that could save their lives.
From abject terror and wailing comes a remarkable feeling for a child Hey, I did this!
He gave him a little kiss on his cheek.
He was so grateful to him for sticking by him.
And then people started losing their sons in alarming numbers.
And so everybody started to hang onto their babies and coddle them and treat them differently.
And then millennials were given awards for everything.
Theres all these patterns that emerge.
A Swim Lessonis presented by Los Angeles Times ShortDocs,American Documentary/POVShorts, andDocumentary+.
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