A Woman Captured

Marish is one of over 45 million victims of modern day slavery. She has been kept a domestic slave for 10 years, in a family that took her identity and changed her name. Gaining courage from the filmmaker’s presence, she decides to escape and become a free person.

An intimate close-up of a woman with a lined face. She's asleep, until the filmmaker whispers, "Marish." Marish opens her eyes and sits up quickly, confused but smiling. This is an apt summary of what happened during the time director Bernadett Tuza-Ritter spent filming her. Marish has been exploited and abused for more than 10 years by the woman for whom she toils as a housekeeper—entirely unpaid. She even has to hand over the money she earns with an extra job as a cleaner in a factory. She's forbidden to do anything without permission. Marish’s 18-year-old daughter couldn’t stand it anymore and ran away a couple of years ago, but Marish lives with too much fear in her heart. Can she ever learn to trust people again? Here the old question arises as to how much the presence of the camera influences the course of events. Cautiously, Marish starts to take Tuza-Ritter into her confidence. She dreams of seeing her daughter again. Will she find the courage to take a step forward in her life?