Exclusive Chat With Sounds Like Teen Spirit Director Jamie Jay Johnson

Written by Nikki Baughan Sunday, 13 September 2009 17:23

Interview

As surprise documentary hit Sounds Like Teen Spirit is released on DVD, we speak exclusively to director Jamie Jay Johnson about capturing the heart of the spectacle that is the Junior Eurovision Song Contest. And he wouldn't be surprised if you'd never heard of it before...

"I found out about [Junior Eurovision] when I was researching the adult contest," reveals Johnson of how he came across the biggest kids' talent show in Europe. "I though, 'Why hasn't anyone made a film about this?' Then I got some development money from the Film Council and shot a pilot at the previous year's contest, which was really fun and interesting and so decided to pursue it."

Anyone familiar with the concept of Eurovision will clearly have some preconceptions about a kids version; surely Johnson was expecting to capture pint-sized tantrums and tiaras in his film? "Not really," he muses. "I didn't really think of pushy parents and stageschool kids which seems to be most people's preconceptions. I wouldn't have made the film if that had been the reality." In fact, Johnson found that the youngsters he was working with made his job far easier, describing them as "probably easier to work with than adults." And he says he was pleasantly surprised with some of the locations he visited during filming, with one country in particular capturing his imagination. "I had no idea what to expect from Georgia and I totally fell in love with it. The food, the people, the culture... it was fantastic, and I'd love to go back with more time."

And indeed, he's captured some memorable kids on screen, from Bulgarian teen Marino who hopes her talent will convince her dad to come back, to Mariam, who only wants to save her family from poverty and put her troubled home country of Georgia on the map. With such heart-breaking stories running throughout the film, did Johnson find it difficult to take a step back from the emotion? "I did shed some tears a couple of times," he admits, "but the kids would just be like, 'Oh come on Jamie... it's fine... stop crying..!'"

Despite the film's huge amounts of pathos, there's also a genuine sense of humour running throughout, with the camera capturing the kids' astute and often funny observations keeping the tone light. "I always wanted [the film] to be a celebration and have its funny moments and tender moments," Johnson explains. "I guess we were lucky that they happened." And the director also feels incredibly lucky with how his heart-warming film has been received by audiences around the world. "I was kind of surprised," he says of the film's critical and popular success. "The first time we saw it was with a big audience was in the Toronto film festival and we go such an overwhelming response there. It was kind of crazy. I was really touched that so many people seemed to enjoy it [in the UK] too. Apparently audiences spontaneously cheered and applauded at the end when it was in the cinema which is pretty amazing."

Read Sounds Like Teen Spirit DVD Review

Watch Sounds LIke Teen Spirit Trailer