Director Nanette Burstein did not just randomly choose Warsaw for her documentary "American Teen".
It was a careful consideration.
In a telephone interview Tuesday afternoon, Burstein said she knew she wanted to focus on the Midwest because audiences don't often see it depicted on film. She also knew she wanted it to be a one-high-school town because of the pressure-cooker environment that exists. The community also had to be economically mixed. She would only film at a high school that was happy to be a part of the filming process.
She narrowed the scope down to 10 schools in three states, including Warsaw Community High School. The Warsaw School Board OK'd the documentary filming, and Burstein began interviewing students to be a part of the film.
"American Teen" is the documentary filmed in Warsaw and Warsaw Community High School during the 2005-06 school year. It follows five seniors during their last year of high school - Megan Krizmanich, Colin Clemens, Hannah Bailey, Mitch Reinholt and Jake Tusing.
The PG-13 film won Burstein the director award for a documentary at the Sundance Film Festival for "American Teen".
Before WCHS was one of the potential locations for the film, Burstein said, "I never had heard of Warsaw before."
As part of her search, Burstein said, she also was looking for racial diversity. She said she had a hard time finding that in smaller communities in the Midwest. Warsaw has a growing Latino population, but no Hispanics wanted to be a part of the movie, she said.
During the filming process, Burstein said, she followed a black student, but he didn't make the cut. He was a very shy student.
Krizmanich was reluctant to be filmed, too, in the beginning.
"In the first month," Burstein said, "she was very evasive."
Burstein said she never forces anyone to be in one of her films. "I don't like to push people," she said.
Eventually, however, Krizmanich changed her mind and decided to let the cameras roll.
During filming, Burstein and her film subjects became close. Burstein was older, had been through high school, is not a judgmental kind of person, and it wasn't her role to be an authority figure. Burstein said she was able to offer a lot of advice to the students and help them throughout the year.
"I think I was a good friend to them," Burstein said.
The whole process, including seeing the finished film, was enlightening to all of them in a positive way, but Burstein doesn't think she overly influenced them in their decisions.
"No, no, I don't think so," she said. Teenagers may listen to advice, but at the end of the day, they are going to do what they want, she said. People make up their own minds.
Burstein wondered sometimes if she was having an effect on at least one student - Bailey. On the first day Burstein met Bailey, Bailey said she wanted to go to California for film school. Burstein wondered if she may have influenced Bailey, but Bailey said no.
During filming, Bailey suffers from depression after a break-up with a boyfriend. She misses 17 days of school.
"I took her to see a counselor, I gave her advice. I was quite concerned for her," Burstein said. They had a lot of discussion, and, Burstein said, she did whatever she could for Bailey. Ultimately, Burstein said, Bailey needed the support of her family to go back to school.
But Bailey's phobia of going back to school after the break-up, and after missing so many school days, isn't uncommon, Burstein said.
"I really don't think it's uncommon for girls," she said. On Bailey's Facebook profile, other girls who have seen the film leave Bailey comments that they can relate to her problem and fears. They get depressed, and then are afraid their peers will reject or make fun of them. "A lot of girls deal with that," Burstein said.
In "American Teen", after the major break-up with a long-term boyfriend, Bailey dates Reinholt for about a month. He breaks up with her over text message. Burstein said Bailey was upset with Reinholt, but not for very long. It just strengthened her resolve to pursue her goals and not let the ups and downs of dating get in the way.
When Bailey receives the text message, Burstein said, that is the only scene in the movie that was reenacted.
Reinholt is a "supporting character" in "American Teen". Burstein said she wanted to unveil more of his story, but not everyone around him was comfortable with the cameras. Knowing she could not include his full story, Burstein did not show him in-depth.
One of Reinholt's friends who is featured prominently in "American Teen" is Clemens.
"He had a great story. He was a kid who wanted to go to college, but his family was strapped for cash," Burstein said.
Colin's relationship with his father, Gordy, also presented an interesting story, she said.
All the teens in the film face pressures all around them. Krizmanich's father wants her to go to Notre Dame just like him. Gordy tells Colin it's either he gets a basketball scholarship, or it's off to the Army. Bailey, Tusing and Reinholt all feel pressured by their parents or other teens to fit in or do what their parents want them to do.
In that regard, Burstein said, one of the themes of "American Teen" is about peer and parental pressure. It's about teens trying to find their identity, discovering who they are, and being more complicated than the labels put on them.
Teens haven't changed, Burstein said, but technology has. With technology, the gossip and the pranks have just gotten a lot more vicious.
Tusing was not like his peers, and Burstein said that was one of the reasons she chose him for the film.
"He was unusual. Around his peers, he was incredibly shy and intimidated," Burstein said. But one on one, Burstein said, Tusing is insightful, witty and funny. Despite the numerous rejections from girls, he keeps plugging away, she said. "He was just not deterred."She said the movie has helped him socially. He sees, through his own eyes, that audiences respond well to him as they watch the film. "That has helped him tremendously," she said.
At the Aug. 5 premiere of "American Teen" at the WCHS Performing Arts Center, the sold-out crowd laughed and applauded for the film.
"I am so pleased," Burstein said of the hometown reaction. "I am so pleased."
With all the featured kids, parents, teachers, school board members and community happy with it, "it's really all you can ask for," Burstein said.
Asked if an Academy Award could be in the film's future, Burstein said they certainly were going to send it in to be considered. But she's earned awards with previous films, and it's not a priority.
Burstein said, "To me, I would love for as many people to see it as possible. That's more important to me than awards."
