The documentary YOU WERE MY FIRST BOYFRIEND, directed and produced by Cecilia Aldarondo and co-directed by Sarah Enid Hagey, premieres November 8th at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT on HBO and will be available to stream on Max. The film had its world premiere at the 2023 SXSW Film Festival.
Synopsis: What if you could rewrite your adolescence? In this high school reunion movie turned inside out, filmmaker Aldarondo embarks on a fantastical quest to reconcile her tortured teen years. She revisits some of her most formative – and at times cringeworthy – childhood experiences, tracking down old crushes and reenacting visceral memories of youthful humiliation and desire, at times playing the role of her younger self and casting teenagers to play the kids in her life who still haunt her. Oscillating between present and past, humor and heartbreak, YOU WERE MY FIRST BOYFRIEND is a hybrid documentary that takes seriously the power of adolescence and the way time impacts memories, exploring what it means to grow up and make peace with the drama of our teenage trauma.
Part memoir with an ode to iconic teen television series, movies and the music that gave a soundtrack to our collective angst (with a nod to Tori Amos), the documentary includes immersive re-enactments highlighting moments of adolescent longing and creating the ability to re-live an unresolved and sometimes painful past event. Instead of being trapped by her memories, through this experience, Aldarondo finds a path to self-acceptance that is ultimately empowering and cathartic.
Featured Participants: Cecilia Aldarondo, Melissa Baker, Sarah Baker Butterfield, Laura Gallegos, Gabriel Kristal, Joel Pickering, and Jo Anne Taylor as themselves. Additional cast include Trinity Soos, Hannah Whipple, Xander Black, Maya Karp, Ella Marie Fraley, Delanie Nicole Gill, Erica Kaylee Gouldthorpe, Isabella Rivera Gandulla, and Cole Donaldson.
Credits: HBO Documentary Films presents YOU WERE MY FIRST BOYFRIEND; directed, written, and produced by Cecilia Aldarondo; co-directed, written, and edited by, Sarah Enid Hagey; producer, Ines Hofmann Kanna; edited by Shannon Kennedy. For HBO: executive producers, Nancy Abraham, Lisa Heller, and Sara Rodriguez; coordinating producer, Anna Klein.
