deadCENTER Film Festival 2008

AMERICAN TEEN is the touching and hilarious Sundance hit that follows the lives of five teenagers - a jock, a popular girl, a heartthrob, an artsy girl and a geek – in one small town in Indiana through their senior year of high school. We see the insecurities, the cliques, the jealousies, the first loves and heartbreaks, and the struggle to make profound decisions about the future. Filming daily for ten months, filmmaker Nanette Burstein (ON THE ROPES, THE KID STAYS IN THE PICTURE) developed a deep understanding of her subjects. The result is a film that goes beyond the enduring stereotypes of high school to render complex young people trying to find their way into adulthood. With extraordinary intimacy and a great deal of humor, AMERICAN TEEN captures the pressures of growing up – pressures that come from one’s peers, one’s parents, and not least, oneself.

The New Year Parade follows Jack and Kat McMonagle over the course of a year as their parents separate, struggle with their decisions, and eventually divorce. As past indiscretions are exposed, Jack and Kat question their own identities while struggling to build meaningful relationships. The break down of Jack and Kat’s family is set against the backdrop of the Philadelphia’s Mummery, one of the oldest American folk traditions.