Hey, Hey, It's Esther Blueburger

Infobox Film
name = Hey, Hey, It's Esther Blueburger
imdb_id = 0469099


producer = Miriam Stein
Stephen Hayes
Heather Ogilvie
director = Cathy Randall
writer = Cathy Randall
starring = Danielle Catanzariti,
Toni Collette,
Keisha Castle-Hughes,
Jonny Pasvolsky
music = Guy Gross
cinematography =
editing = Dany Cooper
Sadie Crestman
distributor = Buena Vista International
released = flagicon|Germany Germany
February 2008
(Berlin International Film Festival)cite web |url=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0469099/releaseinfo |title=Release dates for Hey Hey It's Esther Blueburger (2008) |accessdate=2008-01-23 |work=The Internet Movie Database ]
flagicon|Australia Australia
March 20, 2008
runtime =
country = flagicon|Australia Australia
language = English
awards =
budget = AU$6 million
gross =

"Hey, Hey, It's Esther Blueburger" is an independent 2008 Australian teenage comedy film, written and directed by debut filmmaker Cathy Randall, starring newcomer Danielle Catanzariti, Toni Collette, Keisha Castle-Hughes and Jonny Pasvolsky. It was shot in Adelaide, South Australia and Sydney, New South Wales.

Open casting calls were held around Australia for children to fill a number of roles, including those of Esther and her twin brother Jacob, in mid-2006. [http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2006/06/09/1149815312946.html Hey, hey, it's starstruck teens day] "Sydney Morning Herald". June 9, 2006.] The role of Esther eventually went to Danielle Catanzariti, [http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,20361747-16947,00.html Hey hey, it's Danielle the 14-year-old drama queen] "The Australian". September 6, 2006.] a 14-year-old girl from Murray Bridge, South Australia; on October 23, news emerged that Christian Byers was chosen to play Jacob. [http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,20626525-31624,00.html For Keisha, the show must go on] "The Adelaide Advertiser". October 23, 2006.]

The film was released in Germany in February 2008 at the Berlin International Film Festival and in Australia on March 20, 2008.

Plot

Esther Blueburger (Catanzariti) is a 13-year-old Jewish girl who is an outsider in her own world. Looked down upon as a nerd at her posh private school and pressured to be part of a "normal" family at home, Esther is lonesome and can find nowhere to fit in.In an attempt to escape from her Bat Mitzvah party, she runs into Sunni (Castle-Hughes), the tough, cool girl from the local public school. For Esther, she would do anything to be in Sunni's position.In order to reinvent herself, Esther secretly transfers to Sunni's school as a Swedish exchange student and hangs out with Sunni, her friends, and Sunni's single mother (Collette). Through her experiences with Sunni, Esther eventually learns that being yourself is more important than fitting in.

Cast

Reception

Film industry magazine "Screen International" critic Peter Brunette noted that in spite of minor faults, the film was "an otherwise enjoyable piece of highly competent, commercial filmmaking," which "should perform well in all markets, from theatrical through to ancillary." [Citation
last=Brunette
first=Peter
author-link=
title=Hey Hey It's Esther Blueburger
magazine=Screen International
volume=
issue=1634
pages=20
year=2008
date=2008-02-29
url=]
The Age's Jim Schembri described the film as "an embarrassing, comprehensively abysmal Australian film" [http://blogs.theage.com.au/schembri/archives/2008/03/australian_film.html] .

References

External links

* [http://www.estherblueburger.com Official Film Website]
*
* [http://www.lightning-ent.com/movie/view/42 Hey, Hey, It's Esther Blueburger Trailer]
* [http://esther-blueburger-trailer.blogspot.com/ Esther Blueburger Trailer] Fan website