Director Jillian Schlesinger on Maidentrip and Collaborating with the Subject of Her Documentary

Maidentrip' tells the story of Laura Dekker, the youngest woman ever to sail around the world alone, mostly from her own perspective.

How do you make a documentary about a subject who is alone at sea for 2 years? Even more, how do you boil it down into an 82 minute film? Well, it's quite easy. Through filmmaker Jillian Schlesinger's collaboration with her subject, Laura Dekker, the two women were able to paint a fascinating portrait of self-discovery and maturing into adulthood on the high seas.

Funny, honest and with no pretenses, Maidentrip is as much about Laura's passage into adulthood as it is the actual voyage. We spoke to Schlesinger about what inspired her to capture Laura's story, the issue of access in documentary filmmaking, and why there is a current bevy of strong female protagonists in narrative films.Tribeca: You first came across Laura's quest to be the youngest person to sail around the world through an article in The New York Times. Had you been looking for a story to tell on film? What drew you to Laura in particular?

Jillian Schlesinger: It wasn't as if I was scouring the newspaper to find a story, but I had just finished working with a team on a documentary on Haiti and was ready to do something on my own. When I came across Laura's story, I knew that I had found it.

Tribeca: And what drew you to Laura's story, in particular?

JS: There were a couple of things. When I was a kid, I was exposed to a lot of seafaring stories because my dad, when he was young, dropped out of school, built a boat and sailed to Central and South America with his friends. In addition to my father's accounts of his adventures, I read many seafaring tales, and I noticed that they were all about men. Any women in the stories were relegated to secondary or stereotypical roles if that!

So it was really thrilling for me to meet Laura. I wanted to experience a story on the sea from a female perspective. Laura is just an incredibly positive role model and powerful young woman. Her point of view is so compelling and rich. Her story could have easily lent itself to a fictionalized account, but I'm glad I was able to help her express her real adventures and her growth.

Tribeca: You mentioned how important it is for female stories to be told. Why does it seem like they can only be told in the independent film world at this time?

JS: I've actually been really inspired lately. Since I've started working in the industry, I feel like there has been a really positive wave of strong, young women protagonists coming to the screen. You can see that even in Hollywood films. If you think about The Hunger Games and Harry Potter, those stories have strong representations of women.

There was a great article about this issue in The L.A. Times a couple years ago that makes me think about Laura and her story that strong young women are becoming trendy. I hope that is true. I remember attending the premiere of Winter's Bone at Sundance and that, for me, was a major catalyst for telling Laura's story. I wanted to make the film because characters with those qualities are so scarce, both in fiction and nonfiction. It went from a desire to tell Lauras story, to a responsibility to tell her story and get it out into the world.

Tribeca: I'm surprised at the amount of access you were given by Laura and her family, given that big scene in the documentary when she is so fed up with the journalist who's with her. How did you convince her to participate?

JS: I think it all happened in a really organic way. I approached her from the standpoint of wanting to collaborate and work with her. I didn't want to make a film about her, but make one with her. I think that level of respect and giving her a certain level of control were both very empowering to her. Also, I remember that I approached her when she had just been demonized in the Dutch media and presented in this really unflattering and inaccurate way. I was glad to give her the opportunity to tell her own story from her point of view.

Also, we never had a typical filmmaker-subject relationship. I never interviewed her on camera or required her to do certain things. We created a friendship first and a partnership second. Laura would complain to me all the time about how annoying journalists are and that would make me feel bad because on some level, I was basically doing the same thing, but just going about it in a very different way.

It went from a desire to tell Lauras story, to a responsibility to tell her story and get it out into the world.

Tribeca: It was rare to see the subject of a documentary have such control over the footage. The film makes the audience feel that they are in the boat with her through her two-year journey. Did you put her through sort of a documentary boot camp? What instructions did you give her about filming herself?

JS: The great thing about it is that I didn't actually give her any instructions at all. I was very fortunate because I observed really early on that she has a really unique and natural gift with the camera, both as a subject and as a filmmaker. Laura had great instincts and innately had a sense of how to shoot. I also noticed how independent and strong-willed she was, so I knew I wouldn't be able to try and control anything.

The camera became her only companion out there and that was a beautiful relationship that I didn't want to interfere with at all. In terms of directing scenes and content, I did give her a voice recorder with a list of topics for her to periodically talk about over the course of the trip. That was the closest thing we ever did to sit-down interviews, which were not that comfortable for her, given her previous experience with the media storm. I think it was nice for her to have that space to figure things out on her own t

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