Hey Hey It's Esther Blueburger (2008)

A coming-of-age story about a 13-year-old girl trying to fit into both a posh private school and an ordinary public school.

Director:

Cathy Randall

Writer:

Cathy Randall

Stars:

Danielle Catanzariti, Cassandra Jinman, Talia Monaghan

2 wins & 5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Danielle Catanzariti	...	Esther Blueburger
Cassandra Jinman	...	The Slug
Talia Monaghan	...	Ribbon 1 / Missy
Yen Yen Stender	...	Ribbon 2 / Lissy
Laura Kettle	...	Ribbon 3 / Demi
Lucy Carey	...	Ribbon 4 / Sienna
Tisha Adey	...	Ribbon 5 / Prudence
Leticia Monaghan	...	Prefect / Cynthia
Christian Byers	...	Jacob Blueburger
Keisha Castle-Hughes	...	Sunni
Essie Davis	...	Grace Blueburger
Edwin Hodgeman	...	Rabbi
Russell Dykstra	...	Osmond Blueburger
Vanessa Downing	...	Music Teacher
Poh Ling Yeow	...	Sales Assistant

Storyline

This film is a smart, rueful and dead-on portrait of life's unending quest to fit in; and the girl who solves it by completely breaking out - introduces a feisty outsider hero unlike any other seen on screen. Esther Blueburger's quest begins when she escapes from her Bat Mitzvah party and is befriended by Sunni.., the effortlessly cool girl who is everything Esther thinks she wants to be. With the help of Sunni, Esther goes away from her ordinary life and leaves behind her malfunctioning Jewish family to hang out with Sunni's far breezier and super-hip single mom Mary and attend Sunni's forbidden public school as a Swedish exchange student.

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Plot Keywords:

deception | schoolteacher | young girl | pretend | rite of passage | 

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Taglines:

Sometimes to fit in you need to stand out.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for thematic elements, language, some sexual content and brief teen smoking

Details

Official Sites:

Lightning Entertainment [United States] Monterey Media Inc

Country:

Australia

Language:

English

Release Date:

20 March 2008 (Australia)

Also Known As:

Czesc, jestem Esther

Filming Locations:

Memorial Hall, St Peter's College, Hackney, South Australia, Australia

Box Office

Budget:

AUD 6,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

AUD 305,894 (Australia), 23 March 2008, Limited Release

Opening Weekend USA:

$341, 4 June 2010, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$7,745, 6 June 2010

Company Credits

Production Co:

120dB Films, EB Productions, Tama Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

103 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Immediately able to relate to her character Grace Blueburger's quiet desperation as her once carefully managed household spins out of control, actress Essie Davis observed: "Grace is a typical parent trying to cope with the pressures of her twins reaching adolescence and now she faces not knowing quite how to handle them anymore. She has come to the point where she is bewildered by the fact that her angelic babies have become such prickly characters! But at the same time as Esther, she too begins to see that maybe fitting in isn't the best thing to aim for in life and that uniqueness might be even more wonderful."

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Goofs

When Jacob and Esther are pretending to be their parents at the dining table and Jacob slides the salt and pepper towards Esther, in the next shot the salt and pepper are seen passing each other going in different directions.

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Quotes

Esther Blueburger: [introducing herself to the public school English class] Blueberger. Err-Blueberzh. Er-Blueberg. Ger-Blueberrrrrr. Rger-BlueBUH. Erger-Blueb. Berger-Blue. Eberger-BLUH. Ueberger-Bllll. Lueberger-Buh. Blueberger.

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Connections

Referenced in Hey Hey It's Esther Blueburger: Behind the Scenes Featurette (2008)

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Soundtracks

Be A Woman
Written by Dave Faulkner (as D. Faulkner)
Performed by Persian Rugs

User Reviews

The story of a smart, rueful and dead-on portrait of life's unending quest to fit in...and the girl who solves it by completely breaking out.

Esther Blueburger's (Danielle Catanzariti) quest begins when she escapes from her Bar Mitzvah party and is befriended by Sunni (Keisha Castle-Hughes), the effortlessly cool girl who is everything Esther thinks she wants to be. With the help of Sunni, Esther goes AWOL from her ordinary life and leaves behind her malfunctioning Jewish family to hang out with Sunni's far breezier and super-hip single mum Mary (Toni Collette) and attend Sunni's forbidden public school as a Swedish exchange student.

Finally, here is an intelligent film for teenage girls! This film manages to be funny and uplifting while exploring some more serious themes, of family and peer relationships. The scriptwriter and director, Cathy Randall, and the star, Danielle Catanzariti are new talents and people to watch in the next generation of Australian film. Congratulations to all involved!