One film I quite enjoyed at Tribeca Film Festival last year was Jannicke Systad Jacobsen‘s refreshingly honest Turn Me On, Dammit!. The coming-of-age film follows a teen girl (Helene Bergsholm) just learning about sex and successfully captures how hormones overtake every decision at that age. It went on to deservedly win Best Screenplay at the festival and is now getting a limited release this month here. We’ve got the trailer below, which decides to not include any of the Norwegian dialogue (and therefore no subtitles), but we get glimpse at our lead, her friends, and the town that she lives in (and hates, as we can see her flipping the bird when the sign passes on every bus trip). Check it out below via Apple.
Synopsis:
TURN ME ON, DAMMIT! is a whimsical and refreshingly honest coming of age story about the blossoming sexuality of a teenage girl. The feature debut of Jannicke Systad Jacobsen, the film was awarded “Best Screenplay” at the Tribeca Film Festival as well as “Best Debut Film” at the Rome Film Festival. 15-year-old Alma (Helene Bergsholm) is consumed by her out-of-control hormones and fantasies that range from sweetly romantic images of Artur, the boyfriend she yearns for, to down-and-dirty daydreams about practically everybody she lays eyes on. Alma and her best friend Sara live in an insufferably boring little town in the hinterlands of Norway called Skoddeheimen, a place they loathe so much that every time their school bus passes the sign that names it, they routinely flip it off. After Alma has a stimulating yet awkward encounter with Artur, she makes the mistake of telling her incredulous friends, who ostracize her at school, until Sara can’t even be seen with her. At home, Alma’s single mother is overwhelmed and embarrassed by her daughter’s extravagant phone sex bills and wears earplugs to muffle Alma’s round-the-clock acts of self-gratification. Laced with warmth and quirky humor, TURN ME ON, DAMMIT! is a light-hearted take on a story that is told so often about boys and so rarely about teenage girls.
Turn Me On, Dammit! hits limited theaters on March 30th, 2012.