American Teen
In this biting cinéma vérité, director Nanette Burstein follows a group of five Indiana high-school seniors as they navigate the social mazes of adolescence, prepare for graduation, and generally deal with the often surprising and strange situations that arise simply from being 17. Incorporating intimate footage, interviews, and animation, Burstein reveals all the gritty details about life as a teenager in Midwestern America, from drugs, alcohol, and depression to cliques, first love, and heartbreak.
Director: Nanette Burstein
Starring: Hannah Bailey, Colin Clemens, Mitch Reinholt, Megan Krizmanich, Jake Tusing
Shows how a documentary can be as moving and suspenseful as the best narrative feature.
The players are timelessly familiar in American Teen, too. But filmmaker Nanette Burstein tells their stories with a distinctly 21st-century pop and audacity.
American Teen isn't as penetrating or obviously realistic as her "On the Ropes," but Burstein has achieved an engrossing film.
Reality tv, welcome to the multiplex. If "The Hills" went back to high school and developed wit, perception and a conscience, it might play something like Nanette Burstein's wallop of a doc.
Though it could work as effectively as a television vehicle, American Teen is revealing, funny and involving.
Best Documentary
Central Ohio Film Critics Association (2009)
Best Documentary
Chicago Film Critics Association Awards (2008)
Top Five Documentaries
National Board of Review (2008)
Documentary
Sundance Film Festival (2008)
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