1659. MARÍA INES, the beautiful and highly intelligent mestizo daughter of an Indian woman and the Spanish Duke of Cadiz, lives, studies and teaches in a mission in The New Spain (Mexico), which is financed by her father. Daniel Simon, a Spanish trader, arrives bearing gifts for María, among them blacklisted books and a lens for her telescope. His love for her deepens the jealousy and animosity the priests and nuns feel for María. A few weeks after Daniel's visit, news of the Duke's death change María's privileged life: In a mock trial she's found guilty of pride and lack of reverence for God. All her property is confiscated and she's ordered to leave her science and arts and dedicate herself solely to prayer and lowly chores of humility, from which she has been exempt so far. Having lost everything, delegated to cleaning and scrubbing floors, she breaks down, refuses to eat, talk and sleep. María gets Father Serra’s permission to leave the mission, under the condition she goes in absolute poverty and Serra can keep all her inheritance to build his longed-for cathedral. After making her final confession to Father Miguel, who is deeply in love with her, she leaves for her native village, which is dramatically decimated by the Spanish Pox. María begins caring for the Indians, becoming their saving angel and is angering the Spanish soldiers, who don't want the Indians to survive the plague. Soon the mission nuns join her. Cuña, left to a cold kitchen in the mission, tries to force the nuns to return and is angered by their disobedience and threatened by María's new uncontrollable life. Daniel learns about Cuña's hate and tries to take María away to safety. María, torn between her love for him and her people, decides to risk her life and to stay at the village, provoking Cuña to initiate actions that will carry grave consequences for all.

Ave Maria is a fairy tale about faith, love and freedom. The story takes us through the transformation of a woman from an isolated spoiled brat to a saintly protector of her people, willing to sacrifice herself to save those around her. Maria is a hero in the tradition of Joan of Arc or a female Williams of BRAVEHEART. The underlying current of the movie is desire, the desire they all have for Maria, be it for her "good" or just for the sake of destroying someone they can't possess, control or subjugate. It is a sensual story of repression. Desire is in the air. The characters are torn between their various allegiances and are trying to find themselves. They ran away from Spain to look for something better, or at least different, they didn't fit in Spanish society and still, they remain prisoners of their culture. María ignores the mestizo (half Indian - half Spanish) part in her at first. She sees (and proves) herself as better than those around her. Her father's death and the loss of all of her work, forces her to concentrate on her soul. As all material things are taken away from her, it is then that she starts to discover her true inner calling. At this point the transition from outside to inner life starts: the further she gets away from the mission, the further her life gets away from the scientific, the closer she gets to a life of someone who is a believer in a God, a God who can be represented and adored in many other ways than as prescribed by the official Catholic church. Do not force faith by punishment, have faith by love, by helping, by healing. In her hands this healing becomes a powerful weapon against the Spaniards and the faith as they see it. In the period in which the movie is set, as New Wolds were discovered, the Europeans came with what they believed was "civilization" and imposed it on the local population by force. They thought of the natives almost as animals beneath them. One hundred years after the Spanish first arrived, 80% of the native people were dead, most of them from epidemics brought by the conquistadors. Maria was sheltered from the discomfort of this struggle by the money and power of her father, and the greed of those who surrounded her. Although a tragic occurrence, her father's death is the catalyst that starts the movement towards her freedom and discovery of her soul. She has to fend for herself, she becomes a master of her own destiny. At the end she sacrifices her life and becomes immortal.

Eduardo Rossoff began his film career as a cameraman, working in Europe for ABC, CBS and a number of European clients. Born in Mexico City, Rossoff attended college in San Diego, where he studied psychology. Finishing his studies, he went to France and studied cinema at the University of Paris. His main interest was in Photography, and, in addition to his work with the American Networks, he was director of photography on three feature films. In France, he produced, directed and photographed documentaries, commercials and industrial films for many prestigious firms, including Dior, Chanel, Karl Lagerfeld and Aerospatiale. He also produced a number of programs for French, Italian, and American television. Among his feature production credits are FALCON'S GOLD, CHANEL SOLITAIRE, THE FALLING, THE KID BROTHER, a joint Canadian - Japanese production which won the first prize at world festivals at Montreal in 1987 and Moscow in 1988, KEYS TO FREEDOM, with Jane Seymour, Omar Sharif, Denholm Elliot, CHARLTON HESTON PRESENTS THE BIBLE for A&E, shot on location in Malaysia and Hongkong, and ROUGH MAGIC with Bridget Fonda, directed by Clare Peploe and produced with Jeremy Thomas. Over the past few years, Mr. Rossoff has concentrated on the development and production of feature films and TV series to be produced, and possibly directed, by himself. AVE MARIA is his first feature film as director. IMDB

Luis Bekris is one of the most experienced and best known producers in Mexico. Highlights of his 35 years spanning career include his work as UPM on OLD GRINGO with Jane Fonda and Gregory Peck, THE FALCON AND THE SNOW MAN with Sean Penn and Timothy Hutton, ROUGH MAGIC with Bridget Fonda and ZORRO, THE GAY BLADE with George Hamilton and Lauren Hutton. He has worked with directors and production companies from all over the world, and is producing or coproducing between 3 and 5 films per year.