A portrait of internationally-renowned Estonian saxophonist and jazz composer, Maria Faust. In childhood, at the Kuressaare Music School, she had to play the musical compositions of ancient, famous composers, though Maria understood early on that she wanted to be an artist and compose her own music. Faust isn’t interested in being an upbeat image in front of the camera, and in the film, over the course of three years, she is revealed as a flesh and blood human. For her artistic journey she gets inspiration from her personal life, from dilemmas, to speaking openly about past traumas and hurdles that females face in music and society. The film’s musical culmination is Faust’s work Mass of Mary – dedicated to people who have suffered abuse in their families.

In 2022, the Estonian Film Journalists’ Association declared the film Machina Faust as Best Estonian film. Machina Faust also received the Annual prize of the Cultural Endowment of Estonia and Best Estonian documentary in 2022, selected by the Estonian Film & TV awards.

In Estonian, English and Danish with subtitles in Latvian and English.