Turn Me On, Dammit

TURN ME ON, DAMMIT! tells a story that is rarely if ever explored in films: the unbridled sexual appetite of a teenage girl. Certainly this subject has never been approached in such a candid and wryly comic way.

Fifteen-year-old Alma (Helene Bergsholm) is consumed by her out-of-control hormones and fantasies that range from sweetly romantic images of Artur, the boyfriend she yearns for, to down-and-dirty daydreams about practically everybody she lays eyes on. Alma and her best friend Sara (Malin Bjørhovde) live in an insufferably boring little town in the hinterlands of Norway called Skoddeheimen, a place they loathe so much that every time their school bus passes the sign that names it, they routinely flip it off. After Alma has a stimulating yet awkward encounter with Artur, she makes the mistake of telling her incredulous friends, who
ostracize her at school, until even Sara can’t be seen with her. At home, Alma’s single mother is overwhelmed and embarrassed by her daughter’s extravagant phone sex bills and wears earplugs to muffle Alma’s round-the-clock acts of self-gratification. Throughout, the complexities of Alma’s burgeoning sexuality and loneliness are compassionately rendered by director Jannicke Systad Jacobsen with a frankness that always rings true, as does Helene Bergsholm’s quietly moving performance as Alma.

TURN ME ON, DAMMIT! has been recognized all over the world as a film that strikes a chord with young people, but it has also been received appreciatively by those who are old enough to remember that adolescence is a survivable malady. The film signals the arrival of a new film talent in Jannicke Systad Jacobsen, an award-winning documentary filmmaker whose previous movies exhibit the same brand of humanism, sweetness, and offbeat humor so much on display in this film.

Best Screenplay ~ Tribeca Film Festival
Best Debut Film ~ Rome Film Festival