★★★★

The best documentaries are often the films which unlock a world we seldom see, presenting experiences we rarely get to witness or experience in our day-to-day lives. With Maestra, director Maggie Contreras follows five women preparing to compete in the La Maestra competition - the only competition of its kind forfemale conductors. Taking place in Paris at the famed Philharmonie de Paris, more than 200 hopefuls were whittled down to 14 semifinalists, before a final five earned the opportunity to win the title of La Maestra.

Contreras gains remarkable access to five of these competitors and you feel a sense of trust between filmmaker and subject. We see their home lives or lack thereof; largely unsettled, the women of Maestra travel frequently from opportunity to opportunity. Their chasing some form of consistency in their work is compounded by the fact that only 3% of current conductors are female.

If the film falters at all, it comes in somewhat avoiding the unpacking necessary to understand those realities. Misogyny, perhaps unsurprisingly, rears its ugly head during the competition but there is more to investigate when it comes to the disparity and the (lack of) effort to break down walls and be inclusive for all who seek to pursue this much heralded career.

Aligned in their dreams, the women of Maestra find themselves at the centerpiece of one of those documentaries that forges a connection between viewer and subject. Each of these women bring unique life experiences to this competition - or this moment - though we cannot help but root for each of them to succeed. In addition, Contreras uses experts and talking heads who weave a clarity and understanding into the context of what we are witnessing.

In the end, the enigmatic nature of their work falls away and we see these maestras as real people, separate from the performative side of their personalities. As conductors, they are impressive talents. The ability however to make their stories meaningful, no matter what part of the globe they have come from, makes winning this competition feel vitally important.

Maestra was screened as part of the Seattle International Film Festival 2023 DocFest.