A Wink and a Smile

(USA, 2008, 91 mins)

digital video

Wisconsin Premiere

director of photography: Peter Waweru, Marie Joëlle Rizk
editors: Deirdre Allen Timmons, Peter Waweru
producer: Jack Timmons, Deirdre Allen Timmons
associate producer: Abigail Carter
cast: The Shanghai Pearl, Diane Bruch, Casey Ellison, Janie Hanson, Megan Keller, Amy Klar, Vicky R. Moczi, Christi Jo Petrucelli, Sara Robinson, Rachel Shimp, Tami Veralund

• IMDB Film Info
• www.winkthemovie.com/
• Trailer

An intoxicating mix of private thoughts and public behavior, A Wink and a Smile exposes more than the human body by putting gender, power, sexuality, and social identity under the glittery spotlight, as it follows the lives of ten ordinary women who do something extraordinary — learn the art of burlesque dancing and striptease. This isn’t pole-dancing, it’s theater like that practiced by Madison’s Cherry Pop Burlesque. We see how a homemaker, a reporter, a doctor, an opera singer, a taxidermist and a college student, join the American cultural revival of burlesque, as it moves from fringe fascination to mainstream obsession, engaging a world where performance art and showgirl spectacle, music, theater and sensuality crash into over-the-top glamour. Like last year’s Naked on the Inside and Pageant, this film is a very personal revelation about self-discovery and accepting our bodies, and a very impressive debut feature.

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