Oh, those dreadful adolescent years! Wouldn’t it be nice to receive some guidance during this period of life dominated by incessant insecurities and hormonal fluctuations — from anyone?

This is the simple premise that inspired director Michael Kang (who pronounces his last name “Kahng”) to write the screenplay for his first feature film, “The Motel.” It depicts the coming-of-age of Ernest Chin (played by Jeffrey Chyau), who is growing up in his family-owned motel. Ernest befriends Sam Kim, a patron of the motel who takes on the role of surrogate father and who tries to help Ernest deal with his own sexuality and manhood.

“It’s an image that we’re not used to seeing on screen,” says Michael. “It’s kind of taking the idea of what people think of the Asian American male image and saying, let’s confront these issues directly.”

But now people will get to see it because “The Motel” is one of the select few films invited to screen at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival. It will make its premiere in Park City, Utah, on Jan. 24, under the festival’s “American Spectrum” section.

“I was totally overwhelmed and excited,” says Michael about learning that “The Motel” was chosen. “When I wrote the script, … I’d never even imagined that it was Sundance material. I had no idea that it was going to be appreciated at all.”

Michael (right, pictured here with cinematographer Lisa Leone) was awarded the rare honor of having his first feature premiere at the Sundance Film Festival.

It should not have been a total surprise, though. The script had won praise through the Sundance/NHK International Filmmaker’s Award in 2003. And it gained the support of some notable independent film figures: Miguel Arteta, Matthew Greenfield and Gina Kwon, the same producing/directing team behind Arteta’s “The Good Girl” (starring Jennifer Aniston), produced “The Motel.”

Actor Sung Kang wanted to be a part of it as well. “I had these nightmares that when I was 40 or 50 years old, I’d be regretting [not doing the film]. Your heart tells you, your instincts tell you that this is something that you really need to be a part of and fight for,” says Sung, who plays the Sam Kim character.

“My goal is just to have the film be a good film, and people can watch it and be entertained,” says Michael, whose past projects were the shorts “A Waiter Tomorrow” and “Japanese Cowboy.” “And hopefully it provokes thought and maybe communicates something to people.”

And maybe it will find a distribution deal at Sundance like another notable Asian American-themed film, “Better Luck Tomorrow,” so that even greater numbers can watch it as well.