Elliott Simon Hasler (born 29 July 2000) is an English film director and screenwriter. Hasler’s career began aged 16 with his debut feature WWII: The Long Road Home. His second feature, Vindication Swim, centres around the story of Mercedes Gleitze and her attempt to become the first British woman to swim the English Channel.^[1][2]

Career

Having never received any formal teaching in relation to filmmaking, Hasler began his career aged 14 with the production of WWII: The Long Road Home.^[3][4] The film took three years to make and centred upon the story of Hasler's great-grandfather who was an escaped prisoner of war in Italy during World War II. Completed in 2017, when Hasler was 16 years old, the film made him one of the youngest feature film directors in the UK.^[5][6][7][8] WWII: The Long Road Home was released to critical acclaim, praised for the scope and scale of the project in relation to Hasler's age, with critic Graham Fuller citing Hasler as "maybe the next Spielberg", and Tim Walker of The New European describing the film as "glossy and assured".^{[9][10][11][12]}

Following WWII: The Long Road Home, Hasler made a series of short films, including To Hunt a Tiger, which was shot in Sri Lanka at the same locations as David Lean's The Bridge on the River Kwai and premiered at Soneva Jani's over-water cinema in the Maldives.^[13]

In 2019, production began on Vindication Swim, Hasler's second feature which centres on the story of swimmer Mercedes Gleitze and her 1927 English Channel swim.^[14][2] The film is set to be released in 2022.^[15]

Personal life

Hasler was born in Brighton, East Sussex, England. He is of Italian descent on his father's side and studied history at Exeter University.^[16]

Filmography