In 2010, Laura Dekker made history by becoming the youngest person to sail around the world. She was 16, though she might have been even younger were it not for the interference of the Dutch government. Deeming Dekker’s ocean voyage too dangerous, the Netherlands tried to wrest the teenager away from her father to prevent her from heading out to sea. Needless to say, Dekker prevailed.
Jillian Schlesinger’s documentary is a collaboration with the young Dutch traveler, who captured the images on screen herself and answered questions the filmmaker had written down in front of the camera during her trip. The Hollywood Reporter notes in their review, “When [Dekker] says, “I don’t like when people tell me what to do,” it’s not an expression of mere adolescent impudence but the voice of someone who knows what she wants and is willing to do the hard work to get it.”
Between last year’s Life of Pi and this fall’s All is Lost, there seems to be a small swell solo sailing films. Maidentrip joins their ranks, but forges its own ground by being the first about a girl — and the first one to have actually happened.
The film will open in the US on January 17.
Watch the trailer here:
