Ave Maryam

Not to be confused with Ave maria.
Ave Maryam
Film poster, depicting the sisters lounging about in a brownish room. Near the top, there are the festivals the film screened in. Slightly lower, across the image of the sisters, is the film title, and below it is the film billing.
Worldwide release poster
Directed byErtanto Robby Soediskam
Screenplay byErtanto Robby Soediskam
Produced by
  • Ertanto Robby Soediskam
  • Tia Hasibuan
Starring
CinematographyIcan Tanjung
Edited byWawan I. Wibowo
Music byRooftopsound
The Spouse
Production
companies
  • Summerland
  • Randolph Bubu Production
  • Prodigihouse Postproduction
  • Grafent Production
Distributed bySummerland
Release dates
  • 2018 (2018) (Hanoi)
  • 11 April 2019 (2019-04-11) (Indonesia)
Running time
85 minutes
CountryIndonesia
LanguageIndonesian
Box officeest. Rp. 3.2 billion

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 [id]. Starring Maudy Koesnaedi [id], Chicco Jerikho, Tutie Kirana [id], Olga Lydia [id], 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.