EXCLUSIVE: France’s The Party Film Sales has boarded sales on Maria Silvia Esteve’s documentary Mailin. The film was selected for the internatio
EXCLUSIVE: France’s The Party Film Sales has boarded sales on Maria Silvia Esteve’s documentary Mailin.
The film was selected for the international competition at International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) earlier today.
The second feature from Argentinian filmmaker Esteve, Mailin sees Mailin Gobbo telling her daughter a bedtime story, through which she pieces her memories back together. What begins as a fairy tale turns into the story of a girl who suffered abuse at the hands of a priest for 15 years.
The film won a post-production award at Thessaloniki Documentary Festival last year, having previously been awarded by the IDFA Bertha Fund and won prizes at Visions du Reel’s industry platform in 2022.
It is produced by Esteve for Argentina’s Hana Films, Alejandra Lopez for France’s Ikki Films and Cristina Hanes and Radu Stancu for Romania’s deFilm.
“I wanted to make a film that could speak about the subject of sexual abuse and the failures of the judicial system, but from a different perspective,” said Esteve. “It was important for me to charge the images and sounds with feeling, instead of saying how Mailin must have felt. I think of the film as a journey; a journey inside someone’s head, so to speak, inside their heart and dreams.”
Mailin won The Party Film Sales award at the Visions du Reel industry strand in 2022. “We’ve been immediately convinced by Maria Silvia’s immense sensibility and talent that grew into a powerful and intense film, a cathartic experience,” said a statement from Estelle de Araujo and Samuel Blanc, co-heads of sales at The Party Film Sales.
Esteve’s previous feature Silvia debuted at IDFA in 2018. IDFA 2025 runs from November 12-23.
The Party Film Sales current slate includes Kaouther Ben Hania’s Venice title The Voice Of Hind Rajab.
COMMENTS