Spending a few weeks in my hometown has got me thinking about high school (it’s kind of unavoidable in some ways) and my consensus (with the me of today and the me of yesterday) is that it’s not a time I need to relive. With that I can’t help but wonder how the teens in Nanette Burstein’s new documentary American Teen will feel about their high school years/film debut in 8 or so years.

The film follows a group of teens in Indiana and if the advertising campaign is any indication it will be full of Breakfast Club-esque moments. I can only hope that one of the teens has a mouth like Judd Nelson - or at least a haircut!

The documentary opens in select cities tomorrow and in Ohio on August 8th - which means I’ll have the somewhat unique opportunity to see the film in the town where I actually was an American teen - well the film won’t actually play in my town, but in a nearby town that houses Cleveland’s one art house/indie theater, The Cedar Lee (and there is of course the Cleveland Cinematheque - but it’s more of a museum)

A trailer is below the jump along with links to articles and interviews.

• indieWIRE INTERVIEW | “American Teen” Director Nanette Burnstein
• New York Magazine Review
• The High School Years: Raw and Still Unfair

and just for fun:

and and and, lets be honest, high school is hard, so takepart and learn about Teen Line - a place where teens help teens.