Virginia Film Festival

The release of Showgirls in 1995, Paul Verhoeven’s salacious NC-17 look at Vegas dancers, was met with extreme distaste and ridicule from both critics and audiences. Despite the initial near-universal disdain for the film, in the intervening decades a quite large and continually expanding fan community grew around the film, as well as intense debate about how the film treats themes of sex and gender. Following the journey of Showgirls from initial flop to cult classic, this documentary provides a thought-provoking and entertaining window into American pop culture and the surprising ways in which film can connect communities.

This film is part of the LGBTQIA+ series presented by the Virginia Commission for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts and supported by the UVA Office for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, the UVA Office for Equal Opportunity and Civil Rights, and UVA Arts: supported by the Office of the Provost & the Vice Provost for the Arts