“Kitas Kinas”, the educational film platform, continues its series of documentary film screenings “Common People” at Kaunas Artists’ House, at the core of which lie portraits of eccentrics and hermits, tender relationships and everyday social occurences, subcultures and communities, living in the margins of society. On the 15th of May, 7 pm, the platform presents the third screening of the series – “GLOW: The Story of the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling” (dir. Brett Whitcomb, 2012).
The year is 1986. Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling (G.L.O.W.) bursted onto the scene as the first ever all-female wrestling show on television. The wrestling industry would be changed in ways it could never foresee. Like its then sole competitor/frequent imitator, the World Wrestling Federation, GLOW was a prime-time wrestling series, complete with elaborate characters, colourful skimpy costumes, skits, comedy sketches, personalized raps, and, of course, wrestling. Week after week, women like Mountain Fiji, the Samoan giant with a heart of gold, and Matilda the Hun, the evil German with a taste for raw meat, battled it out for the GLOW crown. By 1989, the GLOW girls were an international phenomenon, attracting over seven million viewers worldwide, touring the nation, and making big bank for the shows producers.
GLOW chronicles the rise and fall of this once successful television show through the stories of those who lived it. From the initial open-call auditions, to the grueling training with wrestling legend Mando Guerrero, to over-night success and global recognition, to the shows sudden and unexpected cancellation in 1990. GLOW girls recall their time on the show with a mixture of heartfelt nostalgia and tearful regret over injuries and the loss of friends. For some, the show was a brief foray into acting and a short-lived adventure on the way to a normal life. For others, that brief time in GLOW would impact and influence their lives for years to follow. For all of the women, working on GLOW was a unique and exciting experience that will bond them forever.
Dir. Brett Whitcomb
Documentary, USA, 2012, English, 76 mins.
Entry is free of charge but visitors are welcome to donate. Recommended donation: 3€. Your contributions will be used to obtain screening licenses for upcoming films.
The „Common People“ screening series aims to discuss not only the content of documentary films, but also the whole notion of documentary cinema. The series will adress questions of ethics, directorial decisions. To film or not to film? When does a director cross the line of closeness with their subject? Should documentary cinema reflect ‘reality’ or the vision of its creator? These questions and others will be raised and discussed looking at films who maintain a close look at people telling their own stories: sensitive, creative, eccentric and based somewhere in the margins.
