Hey, Hey, It's Esther Blueburger
Encyclopedia
Hey Hey It's Esther Blueburger is a 2008
Australian
independent
teen film
written and directed by Cathy Randall. It stars Danielle Catanzariti
, Keisha Castle-Hughes
and Toni Collette
. The film follows Jewish 13-year-old Esther (Catanzariti), an outcast at her posh school, where she has no friends. That changes when she meets nonconformist Sunni (Castle-Hughes) from the local public school.
With Esther's character based loosely on her own adolescence, Randall was inspired to write the film's script by what she saw as a lack of role models for teenage girls. In 2002, the script earned her a fellowship to the Los Angeles Film School
's Feature Development Programme, where she developed the project, and it was later picked up by Tama Films. Randall returned to Australia for casting, and Catanzariti was eventually chosen in the lead role after she attended an audition for minor roles and extras
. Production spanned from October to December 2006, with filming taking place in Adelaide, South Australia and Sydney, New South Wales.
The film premiered on 10 February 2008 at the Berlin International Film Festival
and was released in Australia on 20 March 2008. It failed to earn back its budget with a total domestic gross of approximately $800,000. The film attracted mixed reviews; some critics praised the originality and the acting, though others found Randall's direction dull and the script poorly written. Catanzariti won the Australian Film Institute
's Young Actor Award for her performance, and the film received a further three AFI nominations and a nomination for a Film Critics Circle of Australia
Award.
The two girls form a friendship, and Esther begins attending Sunni's school, unbeknownst to her parents, under the guise of a Swedish exchange student. She revels in the easygoing nature of the public school and enjoys spending time with Sunni's friends and Sunni's laid-back single mother, Mary, who works as a stripper. As Esther gains popularity and submits to numerous acts of peer pressure – including attacking a girl from her old school and giving fellatio to a boy – her friendship with Sunni crumbles. At her old school, meanwhile, her classmates have been led to believe that she was chosen for an elite social experiment, and when she returns she is treated like royalty.
Esther later discovers that Mary has died in a motorcycle accident, and a grieving Sunni is transferred to Esther's private school under her grandmother's care. Deciding that being true to herself is more important than fitting in, Esther discards her pretenses and befriends Sunni again.
and people of all ages", wanting to take a female twist on The Catcher in the Rye
s Holden Caulfield
. She said that she had "always been struck by the fact that there are not enough role models for teenage girls". Esther's character was drawn loosely from Randall's own adolescence; like Esther, she had a Bat Mitzvah, she had a twin brother and she attended both a private and a public school. She explained, however, that the story was "warped and twisted and filtered through my imagination so, in fact, it doesn't feel like Esther resembles me at all".
Based on her original script, Randall was awarded a fellowship to the Los Angeles Film School
's Feature Development Programme in 2002. She said that, under the mentorship of the school's faculty, "The screenplay evolved by becoming lighter and funnier and also the story and structure got tighter." In 2003, Randall was nominated for an Australian Writers' Guild
AWGIE Award
for Best Unproduced Screenplay. Randall's script was subsequently picked up by producer Miriam Stein and her production company, Tama Films. Stein said that "The script resonated with me from the start", particularly because of her similar adolescent experience as a Jewish girl who felt like an outsider. Stein brought the film into production after recruiting Nice Pictures CEO Heather Ogilvie as executive producer, Los Angeles-based Harry Clein as associate producer and Buena Vista International to handle distribution in Australia and New Zealand.
attended a cattle call
audition advertised in a local newspaper for minor roles and extras
. Randall asked Catanzariti to stay behind and read a scene from the script; she went to a number of callback auditions and was later offered the main role. Having been raised in the Catholic
faith, Catanzariti took lessons in Jewish history and Hebrew to prepare for her Bat Mitzvah scenes.
Keisha Castle-Hughes
was Randall's first choice for the role of Sunni based on her performance in the New Zealand film
Whale Rider (2002). Castle-Hughes agreed to star in the film when she first read the script at age 13, but was 16 by the time finance had been raised and filming began. Castle-Hughes' pregnancy was announced shortly before production was scheduled to begin but filming went ahead unaffected. Toni Collette
was confirmed to have joined the cast in May 2006; her scenes were filmed over one week.
. Specific filming locations included Annesley College, St Peter's College
as Esther's school and Marryatville High School
as Sunni's school.
and recorded by Mac, Bertie Blackman
and the Sydney Children's Choir. The Sydney Children's Choir's contributions to the soundtrack were Randall's own idea, inspired by the children's chorus covers from The Langley Schools Music Project
. The original score
was composed by Guy Gross.
on 10 February 2008 before it was released theatrically in Australia on 20 March 2008. It was later screened at numerous international film festivals, including the Dungog Film Festival
, Hamburg Filmfest, Washington Jewish Film Festival
, London Australian Film Festival, Toronto Jewish Film Festival, Los Angeles Jewish Film Festival, San Francisco Jewish Film Festival
, Boston Jewish Film Festival
and the Stockholm International Film Festival
.
The film earned from 134 locations on its opening week at the box office. Its total gross surpassed $600,000 by the next week, having taken a per-screen average of $1,123 over its second weekend. By the end of 2008, the film had earned a total gross of $800,000 at the Australian box office, making it the fifth highest-grossing Australian film of the year, but it still failed to earn back its initial budget of $6 million. Variety
magazine critic Richard Kuipers attributed the film's poor performance in part to its "M" (mature audiences) classification by the Office of Film and Literature Classification although the film was targeted at preteens and teenagers.
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." In a review for The Age
, Jake Wilson gave the film 3 stars out of 5, describing it as "a quirky Australian coming-of-age story that gives the genre a good name". He wrote that while it lacked the film "craft or pizazz" of other teen movies, the film broke the conventions of the genre. The Sydney Morning Herald
s Sandra Hall awarded Hey, Hey, It's Esther Blueburger 3 out of 5 stars and thought that it was entertaining but "too polished". She praised the acting, particularly from Danielle Catanzariti and Russell Dykstra, but felt that the script lacked spontaneity. Margaret Pomeranz
and David Stratton
of At the Movies each gave the film 3.5 stars out of 5. Stratton enjoyed the "terrific" performances, namely from Catanzariti and Keisha Castle-Hughes, while Pomeranz praised the film's "eccentricity" and the discomfort caused to the audience at times.
Other critics were less positive. The Herald Sun
s head reviewer Leigh Paatsch gave the film no stars, claiming the film tried to match the edginess of the 2007 comedy film Juno
but was, "way, way off the mark". He wrote, "If you think the title screams 'Go watch something else', just wait until you get a load of this lame local production." Jim Schembri of The Age
opined that the film was an example of "just how bad local [Australian] films can get". In particular, he criticised the "stiff" performances, the "woeful" directing and the plot's implausibility. Variety
magazine's Richard Kuipers wrote that the film was "sporadically amusing" and lacked "scripting smarts and pulling power across demographics". He praised the soundtrack and Castle-Hughes' portrayal of Sunni, but felt that the film was brought down by dull cinematography and "uninspired dialogue and direction". Bernadette McNulty of The Daily Telegraph
noted that the film's greatest downfall was that "the jokes aren't funny enough and the sadness barely breaks your heart". She complimented Toni Collette's performance but felt that "her slight role is insufficient to make it fly the distance". Luke Goodsell, writing for Empire
magazine, awarded the film 2 out of 5 stars and deemed it to be deserving of "an all-purpose warning label to stay the Hell away".
's Young Actor Award for her performance as Esther. The film received three other AFI Award
nominations for Best Screenplay – Original
(Cathy Randall), Best Costume Design (Shareen Beringer) and Best Sound (Liam Egan, Tony Murtagh, Phil Judd and Des Keneally). Catanzariti was nominated by the Film Critics Circle of Australia
for the FCCA Best Actress Award. Randall won an award for directing at the Hamburg Filmfest Michel Children's and Youth Film Festival.
2008 in film
This is a list of all major films made in 2008.-Highest-grossing films:Please note that following the tradition of the English-language film industry, these are the top grossing films that were first released in the USA in 2008...
Australian
Cinema of Australia
Cinema of Australia, more commonly referred to as the Australian film industry, refers to the system of production, distribution, and exhibition of films in Australia. Film production commenced in Australia in 1906 with the production of The Story of the Kelly Gang, the earliest feature film made...
independent
Independent film
An independent film, or indie film, is a professional film production resulting in a feature film that is produced mostly or completely outside of the major film studio system. In addition to being produced and distributed by independent entertainment companies, independent films are also produced...
teen film
Teen film
Teen films is a film genre targeted at teenagers and young adults in which the plot is based upon the special interests of teenagers, such as coming of age, first love, rebellion, conflict with parents, teen angst, and alienation...
written and directed by Cathy Randall. It stars Danielle Catanzariti
Danielle Catanzariti
Danielle Catanzariti is an Australian actress and stage actress. She is best known for her role as the title character in the 2008 film Hey, Hey, It's Esther Blueburger.-Hey, Hey, It's Esther Blueburger:...
, Keisha Castle-Hughes
Keisha Castle-Hughes
Keisha Castle-Hughes is a New Zealand film actress who rose to prominence at the age of eleven when playing Paikea "Pai" Apirana in the 2002 film Whale Rider...
and Toni Collette
Toni Collette
Antonia "Toni" Collette is an Australian actress and musician, known for her acting work on stage, television and film as well as a secondary career as the lead singer of the band Toni Collette & the Finish....
. The film follows Jewish 13-year-old Esther (Catanzariti), an outcast at her posh school, where she has no friends. That changes when she meets nonconformist Sunni (Castle-Hughes) from the local public school.
With Esther's character based loosely on her own adolescence, Randall was inspired to write the film's script by what she saw as a lack of role models for teenage girls. In 2002, the script earned her a fellowship to the Los Angeles Film School
Los Angeles Film School
The Los Angeles Film School or LA Film School is a private, for-profit college geared toward the entertainment industry. It offers associate's degrees in Computer Animation, Game Production and Film.-History:...
's Feature Development Programme, where she developed the project, and it was later picked up by Tama Films. Randall returned to Australia for casting, and Catanzariti was eventually chosen in the lead role after she attended an audition for minor roles and extras
Extra (actor)
A background actor or extra is a performer in a film, television show, stage, musical, opera or ballet production, who appears in a nonspeaking, nonsinging or nondancing capacity, usually in the background...
. Production spanned from October to December 2006, with filming taking place in Adelaide, South Australia and Sydney, New South Wales.
The film premiered on 10 February 2008 at the Berlin International Film Festival
Berlin International Film Festival
The Berlin International Film Festival , also called the Berlinale, is one of the world's leading film festivals and most reputable media events. It is held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in West Berlin in 1951, the festival has been celebrated annually in February since 1978...
and was released in Australia on 20 March 2008. It failed to earn back its budget with a total domestic gross of approximately $800,000. The film attracted mixed reviews; some critics praised the originality and the acting, though others found Randall's direction dull and the script poorly written. Catanzariti won the Australian Film Institute
Australian Film Institute
The Australian Film Institute was founded in 1958 as a non-profit organisation devoted to developing an active film culture in Australia and fostering engagement between the general public and the Australian film industry...
's Young Actor Award for her performance, and the film received a further three AFI nominations and a nomination for a Film Critics Circle of Australia
Film Critics Circle of Australia
The Film Critics Circle of Australia is a group of cinema critics that judge Australian films.-External links:**...
Award.
Plot
Esther Blueburger is a 13-year-old Jewish outcast at her posh private school. Things are no better at home, where her twin brother is beginning to develop into a sociopath and her controlling mother pressures Esther to conform. She finds her only friend in a duck called Normal, and she frequently prays into a toilet asking God to "get me out of here". After escaping her own Bat Mitzvah, Esther bumps into Sunni, a rebellious girl from the local public school.The two girls form a friendship, and Esther begins attending Sunni's school, unbeknownst to her parents, under the guise of a Swedish exchange student. She revels in the easygoing nature of the public school and enjoys spending time with Sunni's friends and Sunni's laid-back single mother, Mary, who works as a stripper. As Esther gains popularity and submits to numerous acts of peer pressure – including attacking a girl from her old school and giving fellatio to a boy – her friendship with Sunni crumbles. At her old school, meanwhile, her classmates have been led to believe that she was chosen for an elite social experiment, and when she returns she is treated like royalty.
Esther later discovers that Mary has died in a motorcycle accident, and a grieving Sunni is transferred to Esther's private school under her grandmother's care. Deciding that being true to herself is more important than fitting in, Esther discards her pretenses and befriends Sunni again.
Cast
- Danielle CatanzaritiDanielle CatanzaritiDanielle Catanzariti is an Australian actress and stage actress. She is best known for her role as the title character in the 2008 film Hey, Hey, It's Esther Blueburger.-Hey, Hey, It's Esther Blueburger:...
as Esther Blueburger - Keisha Castle-HughesKeisha Castle-HughesKeisha Castle-Hughes is a New Zealand film actress who rose to prominence at the age of eleven when playing Paikea "Pai" Apirana in the 2002 film Whale Rider...
as Sunni Kaire - Toni ColletteToni ColletteAntonia "Toni" Collette is an Australian actress and musician, known for her acting work on stage, television and film as well as a secondary career as the lead singer of the band Toni Collette & the Finish....
as Mary - Christian ByersChristian ByersChristian Byers is an Australian actor born on 31 July 1993 in Sydney, Australia. In 2006, he made his film debut in Opal Dream, before featuring in December Boys alongside Daniel Radcliffe. In 2007, Christian portrayed Jacob in Hey, Hey, It's Esther Blueburger. Christian is also the lead vocalist,...
as Jacob Blueburger - Essie DavisEssie DavisEssie Davis is an Australian actress. Born and raised in Hobart, Tasmania, she is the daughter of locally famed artist George Davis.She emerged from the Old Nick Company at the University of Tasmania in the late 1980s and has gone on to appear in Hollywood movies. She is a graduate of the National...
as Grace Blueburger - Russell DykstraRussell DykstraRussell Dykstra is an Australian actor of screen, stage and TV. He trained at the schools of Jacques Lecoq and Philippe Gaulier.-Partial filmography:* Soft Fruit , 1999 Australian Film Institute Award for Best Actor in a Lead Role...
as Osmond Blueburger - Jonny PasvolskyJonny PasvolskyJonathan Marc Pasvolsky known as Jonny Pasvolsky is an Australian actor best known for his role in McLeod's Daughters, which he received a nomination for as "Most Popular New Male Talent" at the Logie Awards of 2006.He starred as Mr...
as Mr. Hooper - Janay Mosby as Vanessa
- Yen Yen Stender as Lissy
Development
Cathy Randall's script for Hey, Hey, It's Esther Blueburger stemmed from her desire "to make a film about a kick-ass chick, a heroine for teenagersand people of all ages", wanting to take a female twist on The Catcher in the Rye
The Catcher in the Rye
The Catcher in the Rye is a 1951 novel by J. D. Salinger. Originally published for adults, it has since become popular with adolescent readers for its themes of teenage confusion, angst, alienation, language, and rebellion. It has been translated into almost all of the world's major...
s Holden Caulfield
Holden Caulfield
Holden Caulfield is the 16-to-17 years old protagonist of author J. D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye. He is universally recognized for his resistance to growing older and desire to protect childhood innocence...
. She said that she had "always been struck by the fact that there are not enough role models for teenage girls". Esther's character was drawn loosely from Randall's own adolescence; like Esther, she had a Bat Mitzvah, she had a twin brother and she attended both a private and a public school. She explained, however, that the story was "warped and twisted and filtered through my imagination so, in fact, it doesn't feel like Esther resembles me at all".
Based on her original script, Randall was awarded a fellowship to the Los Angeles Film School
Los Angeles Film School
The Los Angeles Film School or LA Film School is a private, for-profit college geared toward the entertainment industry. It offers associate's degrees in Computer Animation, Game Production and Film.-History:...
's Feature Development Programme in 2002. She said that, under the mentorship of the school's faculty, "The screenplay evolved by becoming lighter and funnier and also the story and structure got tighter." In 2003, Randall was nominated for an Australian Writers' Guild
Australian Writers' Guild
The Australian Writers' Guild is the professional association for all performance writers, that is, writers for film, television, radio, theatre, video and new media. The AWG was established in 1962 and is recognised throughout the industry in Australia as being the voice of performance writers...
AWGIE Award
AWGIE Awards
The AWGIE Awards is an annual awards ceremony conducted by the Australian Writers' Guild, for excellence in screen, television, stage and radio writing. The awards began in 1967....
for Best Unproduced Screenplay. Randall's script was subsequently picked up by producer Miriam Stein and her production company, Tama Films. Stein said that "The script resonated with me from the start", particularly because of her similar adolescent experience as a Jewish girl who felt like an outsider. Stein brought the film into production after recruiting Nice Pictures CEO Heather Ogilvie as executive producer, Los Angeles-based Harry Clein as associate producer and Buena Vista International to handle distribution in Australia and New Zealand.
Casting
To cast the title character, the film's producers worked with a casting agent to find experienced actors but also held open auditions for 12- to 15-year-old girls in search of "a new face". The producers had spent four months overseeing over 3,000 girls' auditions before Danielle CatanzaritiDanielle Catanzariti
Danielle Catanzariti is an Australian actress and stage actress. She is best known for her role as the title character in the 2008 film Hey, Hey, It's Esther Blueburger.-Hey, Hey, It's Esther Blueburger:...
attended a cattle call
Audition
An audition is a sample performance by an actor, singer, musician, dancer or other performing artist.Audition may also refer to:* The sense of hearing* Adobe Audition, audio editing software...
audition advertised in a local newspaper for minor roles and extras
Extra (actor)
A background actor or extra is a performer in a film, television show, stage, musical, opera or ballet production, who appears in a nonspeaking, nonsinging or nondancing capacity, usually in the background...
. Randall asked Catanzariti to stay behind and read a scene from the script; she went to a number of callback auditions and was later offered the main role. Having been raised in the Catholic
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
faith, Catanzariti took lessons in Jewish history and Hebrew to prepare for her Bat Mitzvah scenes.
Keisha Castle-Hughes
Keisha Castle-Hughes
Keisha Castle-Hughes is a New Zealand film actress who rose to prominence at the age of eleven when playing Paikea "Pai" Apirana in the 2002 film Whale Rider...
was Randall's first choice for the role of Sunni based on her performance in the New Zealand film
Cinema of New Zealand
New Zealand cinema, can refer to films made by New Zealand-based production companies in New Zealand. However, it may also refer to films made about New Zealand by filmmakers from other countries...
Whale Rider (2002). Castle-Hughes agreed to star in the film when she first read the script at age 13, but was 16 by the time finance had been raised and filming began. Castle-Hughes' pregnancy was announced shortly before production was scheduled to begin but filming went ahead unaffected. Toni Collette
Toni Collette
Antonia "Toni" Collette is an Australian actress and musician, known for her acting work on stage, television and film as well as a secondary career as the lead singer of the band Toni Collette & the Finish....
was confirmed to have joined the cast in May 2006; her scenes were filmed over one week.
Filming
Filming took place from 30 October to 15 December 2006. The film was shot on location in Adelaide, South Australia and Sydney, New South Wales, with financial incentives from the South Australian Film CorporationSouth Australian Film Corporation
South Australian Film Corporation is a South Australian Government statutory corporation established in 1972. Former State Premier Don Dunstan played an instrumental role in the foundation of the Corporation and its early film production activities....
. Specific filming locations included Annesley College, St Peter's College
St Peter's College, Adelaide
St Peter's College, , is an independent boy's school in the South Australian capital of Adelaide...
as Esther's school and Marryatville High School
Marryatville High School
Marryatville High School is a public state school in Adelaide, South Australia. It was founded in 1976 during the Don Dunstan era of South Australia and was formed out of the old Norwood Boys Technical High School. The school is situated on a large area of land in the eastern suburb of...
as Sunni's school.
Soundtrack
The film's opening song and recurring theme, "The Only One" was composed by Paul MacPaul Mac
Paul Mac is a musician, producer and music remixer from Sydney, Australia. He was classically trained at Sydney's Conservatorium of Music. Paul Mac formed the bands Smash Mac Mac, Itch-e And Scratch-e, The Lab, and The Dissociatives, as well as releasing two records under his own name...
and recorded by Mac, Bertie Blackman
Bertie Blackman
Bertie Blackman is an Independent Australian singer, songwriter and guitarist. She rose to fame with her debut album in 2004, entitled 'Headway' which came after years of prolific performances around Sydney's Inner city venues, where she developed a dedicated following.-Early life and...
and the Sydney Children's Choir. The Sydney Children's Choir's contributions to the soundtrack were Randall's own idea, inspired by the children's chorus covers from The Langley Schools Music Project
The Langley Schools Music Project
The Langley Schools Music Project is a collection of recordings of children's choruses singing pop hits by the likes of The Beach Boys, David Bowie, and Paul McCartney...
. The original score
Film score
A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film, forming part of the film's soundtrack, which also usually includes dialogue and sound effects...
was composed by Guy Gross.
Track listing
- "The Only One" – Paul MacPaul MacPaul Mac is a musician, producer and music remixer from Sydney, Australia. He was classically trained at Sydney's Conservatorium of Music. Paul Mac formed the bands Smash Mac Mac, Itch-e And Scratch-e, The Lab, and The Dissociatives, as well as releasing two records under his own name...
(featuring Bertie BlackmanBertie BlackmanBertie Blackman is an Independent Australian singer, songwriter and guitarist. She rose to fame with her debut album in 2004, entitled 'Headway' which came after years of prolific performances around Sydney's Inner city venues, where she developed a dedicated following.-Early life and...
) - "Don't You Think It's Time" – Bob EvansKevin Mitchell (musician)Kevin Edward Mitchell , is an Australian musician, known for his role as the vocalist and guitarist of the alternative rock band Jebediah and also his solo work under the stage name of Bob Evans....
- "I Melt with You" – Sydney Children's Choir
- "Ribbons" – Guy Gross
- "The Wrong Girls" – Missy HigginsMissy HigginsMelissa "Missy" Morrison Higgins is an Australian pop singer-songwriter, musician and actor. Her No. 1 albums in Australia are The Sound of White and On a Clear Night , and her Top Ten singles are "Scar", "The Special Two", "Steer" and "Where I Stood". From a musical family in...
- "Bar Mitzvah Prep" – Guy Gross
- "Clapping Song" – Operator PleaseOperator PleaseOperator Please are an Australian pop band, originating on the Gold Coast of Queensland, in 2005. Their current lineup consists of vocalist and guitarist Amandah Wilkinson, drummer Tim Commandeur, keyboardist Chris Holland, Ashley McConnell on bass guitar, and violinist Taylor Henderson.The...
- "Be a Woman" – Persian Rugs
- "Lucky Lipstick" – SurferosaSurferosaSurferosa is a rock band from Norway, known for its distinct costumes and trashy electrified pop music. The band's musical style is primarily rock with punk/New Wave and dance music influences. Most songs make integrated use of synthesizers, and Mariann provides a spunky vocal lead...
- "The Only One (Duck Dissection)" – Paul Mac (featuring the Sydney Children's Choir)
- "Esther On Stage" – Guy Gross
- "6/8" – Operator Please
- "Duck Walk" – Guy Gross
- "Sometimes" – Danielle CatanzaritiDanielle CatanzaritiDanielle Catanzariti is an Australian actress and stage actress. She is best known for her role as the title character in the 2008 film Hey, Hey, It's Esther Blueburger.-Hey, Hey, It's Esther Blueburger:...
and the Sydney Children's Choir - "Long Live the Girls" – Sara StorerSara StorerSara Storer is an Australian country music singer. She won seven Golden Guitars in the Tamworth Country Music Festival 2004 awards in Tamworth, the most awards ever won in one year in the 32-year history of the awards. As of the 2010 Golden Guitar awards, Storer has won a total of eleven...
- "Young Folks" – Chasing Bailey
- "Strange Little Girl" – Sydney Children's Choir
- "Liar" – Bob Evans
- "The Only One (Toy Piano)" – Paul Mac
- "Bar Mitzvah Meldey Hora" – Ilan Kidron and Glass
Release
Hey, Hey, It's Esther Blueburger had its world premiere at the Berlin International Film FestivalBerlin International Film Festival
The Berlin International Film Festival , also called the Berlinale, is one of the world's leading film festivals and most reputable media events. It is held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in West Berlin in 1951, the festival has been celebrated annually in February since 1978...
on 10 February 2008 before it was released theatrically in Australia on 20 March 2008. It was later screened at numerous international film festivals, including the Dungog Film Festival
Dungog Film Festival
The Dungog Film Festival is an annual event held in the Hunter Region town of Dungog. Dungog Film Festival is a not for profit arts organisation that is dedicated to celebrating and promoting Australian screen industry. The festival is committed to education and nurturing the health of the...
, Hamburg Filmfest, Washington Jewish Film Festival
Washington Jewish Film Festival
The Washington Jewish Film Festival is a film festival that features films that represent the great diversity of Jewish experiences. It is held at the Aaron & Cecile Goldman Theater in the Washington, D.C., Jewish Community Center and other cinemas in Washington and suburban Maryland and Virginia....
, London Australian Film Festival, Toronto Jewish Film Festival, Los Angeles Jewish Film Festival, San Francisco Jewish Film Festival
San Francisco Jewish Film Festival
San Francisco Jewish Film Festival is the oldest and largest Jewish film festival in the world. The three-week summer festival is held in San Francisco, California, usually at the Castro Theater in San Francisco and other cinemas in San Francisco, Berkeley, San Rafael, and Palo Alto, and features...
, Boston Jewish Film Festival
The Boston Jewish Film Festival
The Boston Jewish Film Festival is a non-competitive annual festival that screens the best contemporary films on Jewish themes from around the world...
and the Stockholm International Film Festival
Stockholm International Film Festival
The Stockholm International Film Festival is an annual film festival held in Stockholm, Sweden. It was launched in 1990 and has been held every year in the second half of November...
.
The film earned from 134 locations on its opening week at the box office. Its total gross surpassed $600,000 by the next week, having taken a per-screen average of $1,123 over its second weekend. By the end of 2008, the film had earned a total gross of $800,000 at the Australian box office, making it the fifth highest-grossing Australian film of the year, but it still failed to earn back its initial budget of $6 million. Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
magazine critic Richard Kuipers attributed the film's poor performance in part to its "M" (mature audiences) classification by the Office of Film and Literature Classification although the film was targeted at preteens and teenagers.
Critical reaction
Film industry magazine Screen InternationalScreen International
Screen International is a multimedia film magazine covering the international film business. It is published by EMAP, a British b2b media company.The magazine is primarily aimed at those involved in the global movie business...
critic Peter Brunette
Peter Brunette
Peter Brunette was a film critic and film historian. He was the author of several books, including biographies of Italian directors Roberto Rossellini and Michelangelo Antonioni...
noted that in spite of minor faults, the film was "an otherwise enjoyable piece of highly competent, commercial filmmaking
Filmmaking
Filmmaking is the process of making a film, from an initial story, idea, or commission, through scriptwriting, casting, shooting, directing, editing, and screening the finished product before an audience that may result in a theatrical release or television program...
," which "should perform well in all markets, from theatrical through to ancillary." In a review for The Age
The Age
The Age is a daily broadsheet newspaper, which has been published in Melbourne, Australia since 1854. Owned and published by Fairfax Media, The Age primarily serves Victoria, but is also available for purchase in Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory and border regions of South Australia and...
, Jake Wilson gave the film 3 stars out of 5, describing it as "a quirky Australian coming-of-age story that gives the genre a good name". He wrote that while it lacked the film "craft or pizazz" of other teen movies, the film broke the conventions of the genre. The Sydney Morning Herald
The Sydney Morning Herald
The Sydney Morning Herald is a daily broadsheet newspaper published by Fairfax Media in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1831 as the Sydney Herald, the SMH is the oldest continuously published newspaper in Australia. The newspaper is published six days a week. The newspaper's Sunday counterpart, The...
s Sandra Hall awarded Hey, Hey, It's Esther Blueburger 3 out of 5 stars and thought that it was entertaining but "too polished". She praised the acting, particularly from Danielle Catanzariti and Russell Dykstra, but felt that the script lacked spontaneity. Margaret Pomeranz
Margaret Pomeranz
Margaret Pomeranz AM is an Australian film critic and television personality.-Early life:Pomeranz was born in 1944 in Waverley, a suburb of Sydney, and was educated at the Presbyterian Ladies' College, Sydney in Croydon, the then newly opened Macquarie University, and the Playwright's Studio at...
and David Stratton
David Stratton
David James Stratton is an English- Australian film critic and television personality.-Life and career:Born in Trowbridge, Wiltshire, England in 1939, Stratton was sent to Hampshire to see out the war years with his grandmother, an avid filmgoer, where he was taken to the local cinemas regularly...
of At the Movies each gave the film 3.5 stars out of 5. Stratton enjoyed the "terrific" performances, namely from Catanzariti and Keisha Castle-Hughes, while Pomeranz praised the film's "eccentricity" and the discomfort caused to the audience at times.
Other critics were less positive. The Herald Sun
Herald Sun
The Herald Sun is a morning tabloid newspaper based in Melbourne, Australia. It is published by The Herald and Weekly Times, a subsidiary of News Limited, itself a subsidiary of News Corporation. It is available for purchase throughout Melbourne, Regional Victoria, Tasmania, the Australian Capital...
s head reviewer Leigh Paatsch gave the film no stars, claiming the film tried to match the edginess of the 2007 comedy film Juno
Juno (film)
Juno is a 2007 comedy-drama film directed by Jason Reitman and written by Diablo Cody. Ellen Page stars as the title character, an independent-minded teenager confronting an unplanned pregnancy and the subsequent events that put pressures of adult life onto her. Michael Cera, Olivia Thirlby, J. K....
but was, "way, way off the mark". He wrote, "If you think the title screams 'Go watch something else', just wait until you get a load of this lame local production." Jim Schembri of The Age
The Age
The Age is a daily broadsheet newspaper, which has been published in Melbourne, Australia since 1854. Owned and published by Fairfax Media, The Age primarily serves Victoria, but is also available for purchase in Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory and border regions of South Australia and...
opined that the film was an example of "just how bad local [Australian] films can get". In particular, he criticised the "stiff" performances, the "woeful" directing and the plot's implausibility. Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
magazine's Richard Kuipers wrote that the film was "sporadically amusing" and lacked "scripting smarts and pulling power across demographics". He praised the soundtrack and Castle-Hughes' portrayal of Sunni, but felt that the film was brought down by dull cinematography and "uninspired dialogue and direction". Bernadette McNulty of The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
noted that the film's greatest downfall was that "the jokes aren't funny enough and the sadness barely breaks your heart". She complimented Toni Collette's performance but felt that "her slight role is insufficient to make it fly the distance". Luke Goodsell, writing for Empire
Empire (magazine)
Empire is a British film magazine published monthly by Bauer Consumer Media. From the first issue in July 1989, the magazine was edited by Barry McIlheney and published by Emap. Bauer purchased Emap Consumer Media in early 2008...
magazine, awarded the film 2 out of 5 stars and deemed it to be deserving of "an all-purpose warning label to stay the Hell away".
Awards and nominations
Danielle Catanzariti won the Australian Film InstituteAustralian Film Institute
The Australian Film Institute was founded in 1958 as a non-profit organisation devoted to developing an active film culture in Australia and fostering engagement between the general public and the Australian film industry...
's Young Actor Award for her performance as Esther. The film received three other AFI Award
Australian Film Institute Awards
The Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Award, known as the AACTA Award , is an accolade presented annually by the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts . The awards recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry and television industry, including directors,...
nominations for Best Screenplay – Original
Australian Film Institute Award for Best Screenplay
The Australian Film Institute Award for Best Screenplay is an award in the annual Australian Film Institute Awards. It has been awarded annually since 1976 as a joint category until 1993 when the award was separated into Best Original Screenplay and Best Adapted Screenplay...
(Cathy Randall), Best Costume Design (Shareen Beringer) and Best Sound (Liam Egan, Tony Murtagh, Phil Judd and Des Keneally). Catanzariti was nominated by the Film Critics Circle of Australia
Film Critics Circle of Australia
The Film Critics Circle of Australia is a group of cinema critics that judge Australian films.-External links:**...
for the FCCA Best Actress Award. Randall won an award for directing at the Hamburg Filmfest Michel Children's and Youth Film Festival.