Ave Maryam

Ave Maryam (local parlance: [a'fɛ ma'rɪam]), initially titled Salt Is Leaving the Sea, is a 2018 Indonesian romantic drama film written, directed, and produced by Ertanto Robby Soediskam. Starring Maudy Koesnaedi, Chicco Jerikho, Tutie Kirana, Olga Lydia, Joko Anwar, and Nathania Angela, it concerns a forbidden romantic relationship between a Roman Catholic religious sister and her pastor. Made under the sentiment of the lack of non-Muslim films in Indonesia, the film was shot for nine days in 2016, and features a soundtrack by Aimee Saras. After its premiere at the 2018 Hanoi International Film Festival, Ave Maryam premiered nationally at the Jogja-NETPAC Asian Film Festival on 30 November and was theatrically released on 11 April 2019. It was released on Netflix in September 2020; a version from which 12 minutes of footage were removed was shown theatrically and on Netflix while the uncut version was screened at film festivals. The film received positive reviews; it was praised for its Catholic theme and symbolic elements, but was criticized for being unrealistic. It won three awards and was a candidate for Indonesia's 92nd Academy Awards submission.