American Teen (film)

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American Teen
American teen 08.jpg
Promotional poster which parodies the 1985 John Hughes teen film classic The Breakfast Club
Directed by Nanette Burstein
Written byNanette Burstein
Produced byNanette Burstein
Chris Huddleston
Eli Gonda
Jordan Roberts
StarringHannah Bailey
Colin Clemens
Megan Krizmanich
Jake Tusing
Mitch Reinholt
CinematographyLaela Kilbourn
Wolfgang Held
Vasco Nunes
Edited byNanette Burstein
Tom Haneke
Mary Manhardt
Music by Michael Penn
Distributed by Paramount Vantage
A&E IndieFilms
Release dates
  • January 19, 2008 (2008-01-19)(Sundance)
  • July 25, 2008 (2008-07-25)
Running time
95 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$1.1 million [1]

American Teen is a 2008 documentary film directed by Nanette Burstein, [2] and produced by 57th & Irving. It competed in the Documentary Competition at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival, where it received the Directing Award Documentary. [3] Following the Sundance Film Festival, the movie was picked up by Paramount Vantage and was released to general cinema July 25, 2008. [4]

Contents

Much of the movie was filmed at Warsaw Community High School in Warsaw, Indiana. Director Nanette Burstein originally reviewed more than 100 different schools in the pre-production process, and ten schools replied, agreeing to participate. After she interviewed incoming seniors at all 10, she chose Warsaw. [5]

Synopsis

This documentary circles on the lives of five typical senior high students in a small town in Indiana—a heartthrob, an artist, a jock, a geek, and a popular girl. Filmed every day for 10 months, this documentary captures their inner workings and uncovers their insecurities, heartbreaks, struggles, cliques they belong to and deal with their weaknesses, and their fears about life beyond senior high.

Primary characters

Criticism

Some film critics have accused the director, Nanette Burstein (who won the directing award at Sundance [8] [9] ), of giving the documentary a sensationalized feel, [10] and others have gone so far as to claim that the film feels scripted and the very presence of the cameras take the reality out of the situation. One continual issue with the movie was that Tusing was continually forced to "get a girlfriend" in order not to be removed from the film.

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References

  1. "American Teen". Box Office Mojo . Retrieved June 24, 2023.
  2. Lybarger, Dan (August 12, 2008). "Is the Camera Rolling? Director Nanette Burstein and producer Jordan Roberts on 'American Teen.'". eFilmCritic.com. Archived from the original on January 22, 2013.
  3. "2008 Sundance Film Festival Announces Awards" (PDF). January 26, 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 25, 2008.
  4. Breznican, Anthony (January 24, 2008). "Sundance doc 'American Teen' graduates to the multiplex". USA Today . Retrieved February 3, 2008.
  5. Sperling, Nicole (August 1, 2008). "The real 'American Teen'". Entertainment Weekly . Archived from the original on September 12, 2008.
  6. Hertz, Todd (July 25, 2008). "American Teen". Christianity Today . Retrieved March 19, 2017.
  7. "Sundance Movie Review: American Teen". /Film . January 23, 2008. Retrieved March 19, 2017.
  8. "EVENTS: American Teen to Open Sundance at BAM Series; 22 Features Slated". IndieWire . April 9, 2008.
  9. "2008 Sundance Film Festival". sundance.org.
  10. Olsen, Mark (July 23, 2008). "Lots of drama over 'American Teen'". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved June 8, 2018.