Presented by Oscarbate

Director Ruth Leitman in attendance for post-show discussion

Everyone needs more Wildwood, NJ in their lives. Shot on dreamy Super-8 by an all-women crew led by co-directors Ruth Leitman and Carol Weaks Cassidy, this classic Nineties documentary shines a charming light on the lives of women from the last great New Jersey carnival town. From go-go dancers to pre-teen brats, to goths working as vampires in the boardwalk’s haunted house, Wildwood’s vox pop moves beyond big hair and Press-On nails to explore the souls of women raised on these neon lights, rides and beaches. It’s easy to see why Lana Del Rey included footage in her “Diet Mountain Dew” vid. – American Genre Film Archive

Archivist Derek Erdman in attendance for post-show discussion

Girls at the Carnival is an inadvertent documentary, an unadulterated look at mid-western life in the early 1990’s. As this recording was never meant for reproduction or mass viewing, each scene is rich with spontaneity, each spoken word is obviously unscripted and devoid of conscious thought. Follow Jenn, Kelly and Nellie through a world of obscenity, lust and hedonism and decide for yourself how the moral fabric of America’s heartland has dissolved like a pair of thin cotton socks soaking for weeks in a sink of extra strength bleach.