In the suburbs of Montreal, Mutang is a family man. But in Malaysia, he was a voice of resistance for the indigenous peoples of Sarawak. The documentary A TIME TO SWIM follows Mutang as he returns home for the first time since his exile in 1992. The remote forest village, however, is not like he remembers it. Contrary to the will of the elders, cousins who once stood by him at the blockades are now welcoming the timber companies. Despite the threat of a lingering arrest warrant, Mutang can’t resist taking up his old cause. A TIME TO SWIM explores the effects of environmental destruction on the fabric of a community through the personal story of Mutang’s search for belonging in a place where the very ideas of home and heritage are slipping away.
