First look at queer coming of age film, Erin’s Guide to Kissing Girls

Quiver has picked up Julianna Notten’s queer coming of age feature film debut Erin’s Guide to Kissing Girls for distribution.

The film, which is based on a 2018 short of the same name tells the story of Erin who is graduating middle school as the only person out in her grade, and Liz, fellow comic nerd and track star, find their friendship tested when Liz is accepted to private school and Erin falls hard for new girl and ex child-star, Sydni. Erin believes the only way to save herself from certain doom is to ask Sydni to the big dance, but the plan goes awry when she starts to lose Liz along the way.

“Erin’s Guide To Kissing Girls is first and foremost a love letter to my younger self” said the film’s writer and director Julianna Notten. “Growing up, I was exposed to the usual assortment of girl-meets-boy narratives. It was an all too familiar story and began to feel like the only one. Moreover, coming-of-age films with queer characters were rooted in tragedy or centered around a stereotypical portrayal of coming out. The inspiration for this film was born out of the frustration I felt with this fact. I wanted to create a character who was confident in her sexuality without sensationalizing it, whose problems reached beyond the fact that she was attracted to other girls. Many queer people around the world still face a wide range of difficulties, regardless of their age, and while Erin does face isolation and misunderstanding from her classmates for being the only out person in her class, I ultimately wanted Erin to be free to be herself and accepted by the people in her life she cares about most. When queer women tell their own stories on screen, everyone stands to benefit.” 

Julianna Notten, whose pronouns are she/they, is a Toronto-based, award-winning, queer filmmaker and co-founder of Switch Hitter Films. Currently she is developing both her first television series, “Well That’s Just Super”, with the support of the competitive CBC development fund, as well as debuting her first feature film, Erin’s Guide To Kissing Girls, in partnership with Telefilm’s Talent to Watch program. The 2018 short version of the film has played in over 40 film festivals around the world, most notably Frameline42 which later picked it up for distribution.

The film, which stars Elliot Stocking, Jesyca Gu and Rosali Annikie, will be released to VOD platforms on February 3.