Jillian Schlesinger

Independent filmmaker and writer-producer Jillian Schlesinger has worked in writing, story development, archival research and directing in both documentary films and promotions for television networks. Her first feature documentary as a director — Maidentrip (Mountainfilm 2013), which explores life through the eyes of 14-year-old explorer Laura Dekker — premiered at SXSW, where it won the Audience Award for its category. On her journey to make Maidentrip, Schlesinger biked alone across Holland, sailed across the Pacific and rode in a helicopter off the coast of South Africa in gale-force winds.