On the surface, MAIDENTRIP is a documentary that recounts the incredible feat achieved by Laura Dekker, the Dutch schoolgirl who became the youngest person to sail solo around the world in January 2012 at age 16. But this is no fight-to-the-finish quest to break a sports record or perilous struggle for survival against the elements. Instead, it is a high-seas chanty of a coming-of-age tale: a portrait of a once-giddy youngster who develops into a poised and determined woman over the course of 17 months as she charts her course not just on the water, but in life.
Jillian Schlesinger is an independent artist whose collaborative youth-driven films blur lines between documentary and fiction to tell intimate stories of adolescence through the eyes of those living it. She is best known for Maidentrip, an immersive chronicle of Dutch teenager Laura Dekker’s quest to become the youngest person ever to sail around the world alone. Maidentrip premiered at SXSW in 2013, where it won the Visions Audience Award. The film garnered festival honors around the world and was released theatrically in the U.S. by First Run Features. It was listed among Indiewire’s Best Documentaries of 2014 and nominated for Cinema Eye Honors in the category of Outstanding Achievement in Animation. In addition to her work as a filmmaker, Jillian writes and edits short video pieces for clients including The Guardian, Greenpeace, The New Yorker, and the ACLU. She also makes trailers for independent films. Jillian is a graduate of Brown University, where she studied dramatic writing and linguistic anthropology. She lives in Brooklyn.
