Maidentrip

Then 16-year-old Laura Dekker made headlines in 2012 when she became the youngest person to sail around the world alone. Maidentrip is a remarkable video journal of Dekker's near-two-year adventure, shot almost entirely by herself over countless days and nights bobbing on the ocean in a sailboat, along with occasional stops in distant lands. Film director Jillian Schlesinger organizes the raw material here into a coherent story, beginning with the family's battle with child welfare authorities in the Netherlands (who not only want to prevent Dekker from taking the risky trip but possibly remove her from her father's home). After overcoming that obstacle, Dekker sets sail, and before long the days turn into weeks and then months, spent largely in isolation. Dekker records her thoughts and reflections, as well as her conflicting feelings of homesickness along with the growing sense that she is a stateless person—i.e., a citizen of an entire planet that she is coming to know so intimately. Naturally, there are harrowing moments here as well: storms at sea, worries about pirates, and the daunting prospect of sailing around the notoriously challenging southern tip of Africa. A powerful portrait of one girl's unprecedented rite-of-passage into independence and self-knowledge, this is highly recommended. Editor's Choice. (T. Keogh)