I Swear director says he can ‘essentially relate to everyone’s point of view’ over BAFTAs controversy

Kirk Jones says he came to I Swear with a pretty simple goal. 

It wasn’t to make a blockbuster — though the film has picked up an impressive string of box office successes in spread-out releases around the world. It wasn’t to sweep awards shows — though it nabbed three surprise wins at this year’s BAFTA Film Awards. 

And it certainly wasn’t to take, specifically, Canadian theatres by storm — though the Tourette syndrome biopic got its first rave reviews out of 2025’s Toronto International Film Festival, and is getting its Canadian theatrical premiere this week.

Instead, Jones says his guiding principles were far simpler. 

“My overriding ambition was always to make John Davidson proud of the film,” he told CBC News, referencing the Scottish man whose story is at the centre of the movie.

“But secondly, it was to make sure the Tourette’s community was proud of the film. And judging by the reaction, that’s definitely the case.”

WATCH | I Swear trailer:

And it really seems to be true. The film follows Davidson’s life from childhood diagnosis and social ostracization to a tenuous cultural acceptance and even a public honour by the Queen for his public education efforts about the condition.

As it documents the many misunderstandings he went through, its main theme is in emphasizing that the physical and verbal tics Tourette syndrome causes are uncontrollable — and that the distress those outbursts cause in others is usually because people don’t understand the disease.

Jones himself has already heard about the film’s positive impact.

There’s the prison officer who, after watching I Swear, told Jones he recognized the condition in an inmate and got him much-needed treatment; and the shy young boy with Tourette syndrome able to go back to soccer practice after his teammates watched the film and became more understanding.

Then there’s the increase in website traffic for Tourette’s Action by over 300 per cent, and fellow charity Tourette Scotland getting roughly a sixth of its average annual donations in the single week after I Swear won at the BAFTAs.

Despite the positive reception, getting the film across the finish line wasn’t easy. Jones first became aware of Davidson from the 1989 documentary episode John’s Not Mad, and came back to the story more than 30 years later.

He first worked to convince Davidson he wasn’t like TV and radio shows — who tended to book Davidson for an interview only to make a joke of his on-air tics — by giving him control over how his story would be told. Jones then put his own house on the line to self-finance the film — a risky bet, but one that gave him almost complete creative control. 

The end result was the surprise BAFTA best actor win for Robert Aramayo’s portrayal of Davidson, smashing expectations it would go to Timothée Chalamet for Marty Supreme. 

Racial slur kept in awards show due to ‘oversight’

The actual impact the film had, and how much public opinion of Tourette’s had improved, was ironically tested that same week.

At the BAFTA ceremony in London in February, Davidson did exactly the kind of thing the film explained: he involuntarily said a racial slur just as Sinners actors Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo were presenting onstage.

Though the show started with an announcement that Davidson might shout offensive words, the ceremony was not being aired live. Davidson was also told any of his involuntary swearing would be edited out of the final broadcast.

However, in a move the BBC later called an “oversight” and a “serious mistake,” the slur was not removed from the version that landed on its iPlayer platform.

It was edited out shortly after, but the damage was already done. Given that Sinners was seen as a movie making a point about a marginalized community, some saw the moment as a pointed slight against Black artists. 

While Davidson issued a public apology and later reached out to the Sinners team to offer a personal apology, some felt he took too long to apologize — or, like actor Jamie Foxx, expressed the incorrect belief that there is intention behind verbal tics. Others, like Lindo himself, criticized the BAFTAs and BBC for not contacting them directly.  

‘I understood the upset … I understood John’s position’

Jones found the entire situation demoralizing, but does not think it should be interpreted as any one group against any other.

“The irony was that it’s exactly why we made the film; for there to be better understanding and sympathy and compassion,” he said. “I could essentially relate to everyone’s point of view that night. I understood the upset and which was very, very real. I understood John’s position.”

Davidson himself spoke somewhat to that position in his public apology. Writing on Facebook, he said he would “never apologise for having Tourette syndrome,” but would apologize for the “pain, upset and misunderstanding that it may create.”

Given that not apologizing for a syndrome or actions you cannot control is a huge theme in the film itself, Jones is still pointing people towards watching I Swear.

While he says it’s no one’s fault for being confused by something they’ve never been provided information on, the very real scenarios the movie depicts would probably come as shocking to many — for example, “where you leave your house to go to the store and buy some milk and you have no idea if someone’s gonna try and punch you or beat you up or report you,” he said.

“It’s a very, very complex condition. And hopefully the film — if people can just see the film — I think it will help understanding greatly.”