“Goddess: The Fall and Rise of Showgirls” | A Documentary Kickstarter
The Two Gay Geeks received this press release from our Jonah at Potent PR.
This is for a Kickstarter campaign to fund a documentary on the Paul Verhoeven film, Showgirls.
It looks fascinating.Have a look at the press release and the teaser trailer.
Let us know what you think int he comments section below.
GODDESS: THE FALL AND RISE OF SHOWGIRLS
New Documentary Explores Journey of the Most Reviled and Revered Film of All Time
Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Jeffrey Schwarz announces his latest documentary, GODDESS: THE FALL AND RISE OF SHOWGIRLS, and the launch of a Kickstarter campaign in support of the project. Produced and directed by Schwarz through his production company Automat Pictures, Goddess is slated to premiere in 2020 to coincide with Showgirls’ 25th Anniversary.
During the course of the 30-day campaign, which aims to raise $50,000 for post-production expenses, the cast and crew interviewed for the documentary will be revealed on social media. A pivotal interviewee already announced is Showgirls director Paul Verhoeven (Robocop, Total Recall, Basic Instinct, Starship Troopers, Elle), who has also given this project his full blessing. The first day of the campaign March 19 (aka 3/19) is a significant number in the Showgirls “universe” – the lead character, Nomi Malone, performs her iconic striptease to Prince’s song “319.”
GODDESS is produced by Jeffrey Schwarz and Lotti Pharriss Knowles, who previously collaborated on I Am Divine and HBO Documentary Films’ Vito.
GODDESS: THE FALL AND RISE OF SHOWGIRLS – Synopsis
They say that what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, but for the cast and crew of one film, what happened in Vegas changed the course of the careers of those attached…as well as cinema itself…forever.
Billed as a searing look into the world of the erotic dancers of Las Vegas, Showgirls was touted as a benchmark in a new era of adult entertainment. Serving as a flagship for the NC-17 rating, the film was meant to be the first in a new era of cinematic experiences geared for audiences looking for mature fare. Offering content beyond the R rating without the implications of X, the opulent Dutch auteur Paul Verhoeven directed a motion picture poised to show that the world was ready for clever eroticism at the multiplex. However, upon the film’s opening, reactions to Showgirls were less than favorable. The critical venom ensured that the notion of the NC-17 was instantly transformed from “the next phase” to a recipe for box office poison. Furthermore, the film’s lead, Elizabeth Berkley, took a personal hit, the shadow of Showgirls’ failure marring her career for years to come.
Over the course of two decades, the film that the industry and critics alike initially treated as an unmentionable stain has been reinvented as a sparkling gem of cult cinema. Like its glittery titular characters, Showgirls has risen from the volcano ashes to become a cultural benchmark. The film’s evolution from demonized celluloid to canonized classic is a tale that mirrors not only the story of the film’s lead character, Nomi Malone, but also the story of the woman who played her.
Bruised by an industry that vilified a woman who unapologetically celebrated her sexuality, Elizabeth Berkley spent years distancing herself from a work that would live infamy. But even as the actress pushed Showgirls away, a generation of fans were rising up and pulling it near to their hearts. Through the veil of sexuality and sequins, fans saw a story of a woman who wouldn’t let the world define her. In Nomi Malone, they saw someone who went to extremes to maintain her sense of self. In the end, it’s not that Nomi becomes a Showgirl that makes her a “Goddess” – it’s that she refuses to let that victory change the core of her being.
For the growing cult of Showgirls that has risen over the last 20+ years, the film’s audacious sexuality and brazen empowerment have taken the once reviled movie to a status of near worship. Like The Rocky Horror Picture Show before it, Showgirls has inspired audiences the world over to embrace their inner-Goddesses and take that love out to the world. Once considered a failure, the film ultimately has gone on to be one of the largest financial successes on home video for MGM, and the movie that everyone once hoped to forget stands to be remembered for all time.
GODDESS: THE FALL AND RISE OF SHOWGIRLS will give voice to the as-yet-untold stories of the cast and crew who were there to see the film’s creation and fall from grace, as well as the scholars, fans, drag queens, and more who carried the film’s banner and contributed to Showgirls’ inevitable redemption.
Kickstarter page: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/showgirlsdoc/goddess-the-fall-and-rise-of-showgirls
Website: showgirlsdoc.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ShowgirlsDoc/
Twitter: @showgirlsdoc
Instagram: @showgirlsdoc
