zwemmen in mijn buik

Getting into the water with her children: this is the wish that leads Danielle, aged thirty-six, to learn to swim. An everyday action for others becomes a series of small tasks for her to tackle. Coordinating arms and feet, finding her breath, accepting support and trying again: the lessons unfold at the pace of adult learning, while the children already imagine a race with their mother.

zwemmen in mijn buik, also presented under the English title swimming in my belly, is a Belgian documentary written and directed by Merel Wulteputte. The filmmaker follows Danielle between the pool and home, where conversations about swimming continue over breakfast and during play. The wish to share a new experience passes through family life, the children’s expectations and the willingness to be seen as a beginner.

In the pool, each exercise is broken down into movements and attempts. A kickboard, floats and the instructor’s corrections accompany the work on coordination. Underwater images observe limbs, hands and support; above the surface, the edge and walls locate Danielle within the lesson. Reflections, bubbles and turquoise tones are part of the film’s way of exploring the relationship between body and water.

The title opens another dimension too. At home, a box of ultrasound images holds memories of the children and of a loss. Danielle shows the pictures to her children and speaks about when they swam in her belly. A letter she has kept brings forward the memory of a child and the parents’ grief. The film places this memory alongside the present effort to trust her body again, staying close to the mother’s words and experience.

Around the lessons, daily life continues: breakfast, a little girl playing, dough prepared together and conversations about friendships at the pool. These activities bring sporting practice into family relationships. Swimming matters to Danielle as a possibility of being in the water with her children, and each exercise belongs to that shared project.

Made within LUCA School of Arts and presented among the 2026 Master Film graduation projects in Brussels, the short centres on a sporting practice learned in adulthood. Its starting point is an everyday question: how can we approach something that still frightens us, one movement at a time?