Can't Float
LOGLINE
A 30‑something year old Black man confronts his lifelong fear of the water, and the weight of US historical stereotypes about Black people and swimming, as he commits to finally learning how to swim.
Inspired by a 2016 Guardian article chronicling the real‑life experience of writer, director, and journalist Dave Schilling.
Can’t Float features Baron Vaughn (Grace & Frankie, Mystery Science Theater 3000, The New Negroes, Star Trek, American Dad), Brooke Nevin (Tracker, The League, How I Met Your Mother), Beth Stelling (Rick & Morty, Crashing, SXSW Comedy with Kamau Bell, Beth Stelling: If You Didn't Want Me Then Netflix Standup Special), Zylen Drew Arnaud (Abbott Elementary), Christina Catherine Martinez (The Eric Andre Show, American Comic). Executive produced by Iain Morris (The Inbetweeners, Reservation Dogs, What We Do In The Shadows, Time Bandits, Flight of The Conchords, Peep Show).
Synopsis
Writer/director Dave Schilling adapts his 2016 article for The Guardian with Can't Float — the story of a 30-something Black man named Dave (Baron Vaughn) that decides to conquer his fear of drowning to both prove a point to himself and the world. The only problem is, the class he's signed up for is full of children. Happy, smiling, splashing children with none of the crippling anxiety that defines adulthood. Worse yet, Dave has to run a gauntlet of doubters who subscribe to the awful stereotype that Black people not only can't swim, but shouldn't.
Dave's instructor, Emily (Brooke Nevin) challenges him to understand why learning to swim as an adult is so important.
Can't Float is about confronting institutionalized prejudice, reconciling with the youth we've lost and figuring out how to grow into the adults we all are meant to be.
Dave Schilling is a writer, humorist, and podcast producer whose work has been featured in The Los Angeles Times, The Guardian, The New Yorker, New York Magazine, and more. He was the co-executive producer of YouTube's Black History Month special, Black Renaissance, in 2021. He was also the co-host of Vox and Polygon’s comedy/pop culture podcast Galaxy Brains alongside Mystery Science Theater 3000’s Jonah Ray.
Based on a Guardian Article about the real-life experience of writer/director/journalist Dave Schilling:
I grew up in Merced, California — the son of a social worker mother and a career Air Force father. As a biracial kid in a small town, I never quite knew where I fit in. I moved to Los Angeles in 2007 and became a professional writer. My goal was always to express my desire for connection and belonging through my art.
"Can't Float" was based on an article I wrote for The Guardian in 2016 about learning how to swim as a grown man and a person of color. It's a summation of many of the themes I've been grappling with as a writer for most of my career. Being half-Black, half-white has left me in an awkward middle ground in the American cultural divide. My life has been ruled by fear or alienation at various points. I've longed to fit in somewhere, to not be defined by stereotypes like the ones articulated in my film. In order to learn how to swim, one has to let go of fear and anxiety and believe in oneself. The journey of the protagonist in "Can't Float" is all about finding self-belief, and the power to trust yourself and others.
Currently seeking festival premiere
Screening history and full credits available upon request