Sounds Like Teen Spirit
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Use British English|date=May 2016}}
{{Primary sources|date=June 2009}}
{{Infobox film
| name = Sounds Like Teen Spirit
| image = Sounds like teen spirit poster.jpg
| caption = Theatrical release poster
| writer =
| starring = Marina Baltadzi, Yiorgos Ioannides, Mariam Romelashvili, Mirek Coutigny, Laurens Platteeuw, Matthieu Renier, Eva Storme, Bab Buelens
| director = Jamie Jay Johnson
| producer = Simon Fawcett, Maxyne Franklin, Jess Search, Paul White
| music = Mat Davidson
| editing = Lucien Clayton
| distributor = Warner Music
| released = {{Film date|2008|09|09|Toronto International Film Festival|2009|05|08|United Kingdom|df=y}}
| runtime = 100 minutes
| country = United Kingdom
| language = English, Bulgarian, Dutch, Georgian, Greek
}}
Sounds Like Teen Spirit (also known as Sounds Like Teen Spirit: A Popumentary) is a 2008 documentary and debut feature film of Bafta-Award nominated director Jamie Jay Johnson.{{cite web|publisher=BBC|date=8 May 2009|url= http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/filmnetwork/A51019931|title=Jamie Jay Johnson on Sounds Like Teen Spirit|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090531150914/http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/filmnetwork/A51019931|archive-date=31 May 2009|accessdate=4 May 2017}}
It was shown at the Toronto International Film Festival 2008 and was premiered in Ghent, Belgium{{cite web|via=YouTube|date=16 October 2008 |url= https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTl1y_zDvII |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211220/OTl1y_zDvII |archive-date=2021-12-20 |url-status=live|title= Video of Belgian premiere of JESC Film |accessdate=27 October 2008}}{{cbignore}} and Limassol, Cyprus{{cite web|publisher=CyBC |date=September 2008 |url=http://www.cybc.com.cy/junior2008/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=123&Itemid=94 |title=Premiere of JESC film in Cyprus |accessdate=27 October 2008 }}{{dead link|date=June 2016|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} where the 2008 Junior Eurovision Song Contest was held.
Plot
It follows the lives of the participants of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2007, specifically the entrants from Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus and Georgia. The film sees them proceed from the national finals that saw them crowned the representatives of their country through to the international song festival itself held in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, where they each compete against 16 other acts.
Critical reception
The film was well received by critics, on Rotten Tomatoes it has an approval rating of 87% based on reviews from 23 critics.{{cite web |url= http://uk.rottentomatoes.com/m/10011273/|title=Sounds Like Teen Spirit (2009) |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120927015747/http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/sounds-like-teen-spirit/|archive-date=27 September 2012 |publisher=Rotten Tomatoes |access-date=4 May 2022 }} Director Johnson was praised for his 'crowdpleasing' debut{{cite web |publisher=Total Film |date=21 April 2009|url= http://www.totalfilm.com/reviews/cinema/sounds-like-teen-spirit |title=Sounds Like Teen Spirit (12A) |access-date=2009-05-07}} and his success in getting the participants to 'open-up' on camera.{{cite news |work=The Daily Telegraph|date=7 May 2009|url= https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/culturecritics/timrobey/5290968/Sounds-Like-Teen-Spirit-review.html |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090514091143/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/culturecritics/timrobey/5290968/Sounds-Like-Teen-Spirit-review.html |url-status= dead |archive-date= 14 May 2009 |title=Sounds Like Teen Spirit review |accessdate=2009-05-07 | location=London | first=Tim | last=Robey}}
In the 2009 Dinard British Film Festival in Brittany, France 'Sounds Like Teen Spirit' played in competition and won the prestigious 'Hitchcock D’Argent' Audience Award.{{cite web|publisher=Screen daily|date=12 October 2009|url= http://www.screendaily.com/festivals/other-festivals/festival-news/murphys-white-lightnin-and-johnsons-teen-spirit-scoop-dinard-prizes/5006659.article |title=' Murphy's White Lightnin' and Johnson's Teen Spirit scoop Dinard prizes' |access-date=2009-12-10}}
In the Seattle International film festival 2009 the film won a Special Jury Award and was highly commended by the jury "for excellence in capturing the universal experience of young adults discovering their place in the world".{{cite web|publisher=Seattle International Film Festival|date=7 June 2009|url=http://www.siff.net/festival/film/detail.aspx?id=28830&FID=123|title=Sounds Like Teen Spirit: A Popumentary|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120217191805/http://www.siff.net/festival/film/detail.aspx?id=28830&FID=123|archive-date=17 February 2012|accessdate=4 May 2017}}
Sounds Like Teen Spirit was also nominated for a British Independent Film Award in the 'Best Documentary' category.{{cite web|publisher=British Independent Film Awards|date=26 October 2009|url= http://www.bifa.org.uk/news/nominations-and-jury-announced-12th-british-independent-film-awards|title=NOMINATIONS AND JURY ANNOUNCED FOR THE 12TH BRITISH INDEPENDENT FILM AWARDS|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110809070258/http://bifa.org.uk/news/nominations-and-jury-announced-12th-british-independent-film-awards|archive-date=9 August 2011|accessdate=4 May 2017}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.jamiejayjohnson.com/ Director's website]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20171029181948/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b8cdb0cae Sounds Like Teen Spirit] at BFI
- [http://film.britishcouncil.org/sounds-like-teen-spirit-a-popumentary Sounds Like Teen Spirit] at British Council–Film
- [http://lumiere.obs.coe.int/web/film_info/?id=32402 Sounds Like Teen Spirit] at Lumiere
- {{IMDb title|1039638|Sounds Like Teen Spirit}}
Category:Documentary films about singers
Category:Films about music competitions
Category:Junior Eurovision Song Contest
Category:Films produced by Elizabeth Karlsen
Category:2000s English-language films
Category:British musical documentary films
Category:English-language documentary films
Category:Documentary films about competitions
{{UK-documentary-film-stub}}