Martin Strel is not your average world-class athlete. He is overweight, possibly alcoholic and suffering from high blood pressure. Unbelievably, he is a four-time world record-holding endurance swimmer and a hero in his homeland of Slovenia. Strel swims some of the most dangerous rivers in the world (including the Mississippi and the Yangtze) to raise awareness of the effects of pollution. At 53, he is about to take on his greatest challenge to date, the mighty Amazon.

With a crew as eccentric as himself (including an amateur river navigator who makes increasingly bizarre comparisons between Strel and Jesus), Martin sets off to swim 3,375 miles over 66 days, for history’s longest swim. As the unlikely team progresses down the river, Strel quickly shows signs of mental and physical deteroriation. His own son fears that his father is going insane as it becomes increasingly clear that it is not pollution that Strel is battling, but his own inner demons.

Blurring the line between reality and myth, documentary filmmaker John Maringouin creates a darkly humorous portrait of an extraordinary individual you won’t soon forget.

(ATLANTIC FILM FESTIVAL)