“Summer 2000: The X‑Cetra Story,” directed by Ayden Mayeri, won the SXSW Jury Award for Best Documentary Feature. The film traces a remarkable turn of fate: a homemade album recorded by four Santa Rosa girls between ages 11 and 13 is rediscovered 24 years later on the website Rate Your Music, suddenly earning cult status. As Mayeri put it, “This album being discovered is the weirdest thing that has ever happened to me.”
WRITER/DIRECTOR
Writer/Director Ayden Mayeri of “Summer 2000: The X-Cetra Story.“
Mayeri, now a 36‑year‑old actress with 58 IMDb credits, appears in recent titles including Paul Feig’s “Jackpot!,” “Mr. Throwback,” and “Spin Me Around.” She also wrote this documentary, which follows her effort to reunite the original quartet—Jessica Hall, Janet Kariuki, Mary Washburn, and Ayden herself—after the unexpected resurgence of their long‑dormant record, X-Cetra on the platform Rate Your Music twenty-four years after it was created. “I really missed hanging out with them and being carefree,” she said, describing their 2024 gathering in Santa Rosa as “our version of Backstreet’s Back.”
ADOLESCENT CREATIVITY
The film blends extensive archival footage, shot by one mother in the early 2000s, with present-day interviews. Editor Phil Rosanova, co‑editor Audrey Leach, and cinematographer Barry Rothbart skillfully assemble this wealth of material into a cohesive portrait of girlhood. Mayeri calls the project a return to “that unselfconscious feeling” from an age when creativity flowed freely. Back then, she recalled, “We were immediately very embarrassed about it… We’re in junior high. Everything’s embarrassing. We don’t want anyone to know we did that.”
The film’s emotional center lies in its depiction of girlhood’s fragile bonds. Mayeri told the Texan Daily: “I think my greatest dream is that people feel free to be creative for no reason… I really wanted to show what girlhood feels like, and that’s why I’m reading from my diaries.” Her new lyrics—“Did I make you feel embarrassed when I’m something to be cherished?”—underscore the documentary’s theme: rediscovering value in a past once dismissed.
SANTA ROSA REUNION
The cast of “Summer 2000: The X-Cetra Story” at SXSW 2026.
After “Rolling Stone” spotlighted their childhood album, the four women not only reunited but also wrote new music—with guidance from Robin O’Brien, mother of one of the original members. The documentary becomes a warm character study, showing who the girls were at 11 to 13 and who they became after two decades of real life: relationships, parental divorce, drugs, and the awkward social influences that separated them as adolescence arrived.
MEMORIES
Moments such as Jessica’s recollection of being taunted by pre-pubescent boys with the nickname “titless,” or Mary’s exclusion as the youngest, underline how quickly innocence can be eroded. Yet the film is buoyant, not bleak. Thanks to parents who preserved tapes and recordings, we witness a full arc—from exuberant preteens in 2000 to reflective adults in 2026.
CONCLUSION
Winner of the Jury Award at SXSW, “Summer 2000: The X‑Cetra Story” is a tender, resonant celebration of friendship, creativity, and the courage to embrace one’s younger self.
