The Ponds
Synopsis
In the middle of London lies Hampstead Heath, 320 hectares of forest, parkland and wildlife, plus three unique, gender-segregated swimming ponds. People take the waters in them all year round, just as they did in the time of Keats and Constable.
Capturing all the beauty of the English seasons, Patrick McLennan and Samuel Smith filmed the swimmers over 12 months as they shivered, laughed, complained, ruminated, philosophised or simply sought respite from all that life threw at them.
THE PONDS is a heart-warming celebration of eccentricity and sheer bloody-mindedness as these unusual people, united by a shared passion, meet to take on whatever the weather… and life… throws at them.
Details
- Year
- 2018
- Type of project
- Features
- Running time
- 74 min
- Format
- HD 1080p PAL
- Director
-
Patrick McLennan, Samuel Smith 1st Feature
- Producer
- Patrick McLennan, Samuel Smith
- Executive Producer
- Christopher Hird
- Editor
- Samuel Smith
- Screenwriter
- Patrick McLennan
- Director of Photography
- Samuel Smith
- Sound
- Jasper Thorn
- Composer
- Dai Watts
- Film Colourist
- Paul Koren
Categories
Production Status
Production Company
Laser Guided Productions Ltd.
Patrick McLennanFlat 2, 61 Maygrove Road
London
NW6 2EE
Sales Company
Silvia Angrisani,
Aquatic FilmsUnit 10, Southbrook Mews
Southbrook Road
Lee, London SE12 8LG
United Kingdom
m: +33 6 76 57 09 90
e: silvia@aquaticfilms.net
w: http://www.aquaticfilms.net/
Page updates
This page was last updated on 12th May 2025. Please let us know if we need to make any amendments or request edit access by clicking below.
See also
You may also be interested in other relevant projects in the database.
The Pervert's Guide to Utopias
Director: Sophie Fiennes
Year: 2026
Philosopher Slavoj Zizek guides us through film, music, and media, exposing utopian illusions. Through absurd comparisons and insights, we recognise our fate to transform it. Official Selection Venice International Film Festival 2026 - World premiere Official Selection Toronto International Film Festival 2026 - North American premiere
Naza
Director: Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor
Year: 2026
Filmed at night from Tel Aviv rooftops as the city carries on below, this documentary examines the systems Israel used to select targets and approve strikes that killed civilians in Gaza after 7 October 2023. Official Selection Venice International Film Festival 2026 - Competition - World premiere
The Road to Jericho
Director: Amos Gitai
Year: 2026
Traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho, where Rabin's first agreement covered Gaza and Jericho, we find Khan El Ahmar, a Bedouin hamlet of 300 people. Recent demolition threats contradict what Rabin would have wanted. A musical and visual journey, a poem in images – a hybrid of documentary and fiction that weaves archival images from earlier films, with the voices of Samuel Fuller, Jeanne Moreau, Arthur Miller, and Yitzhak Rabin, among others, into the contemporary reality of the Bedouins of Khan El Ahmar, now threatened with eviction by settlers on this road to Jericho. A poignant, sensitive meditation on human destinies on this desert land, steeped in history. Official Selection Venice International Film Festival 2026 - World premiere