Wildwood, New Jersey

Preceded by shorts: "Anything I Catch..." the Handfishing Story (Charles Bush, Patrick Mire, U.S., 1990): In the Louisiana bayous, the vanishing custom of catching catfish and turtles by hand is revived. (25 mins). Spreading Beauty Wherever I Go (Rick Tejada-Flores, U.S., 1994): The art of car styling is detailed by New Mexico low riders. (20 mins) (Both: Color, 16mm, From the artists) --------------------------------------Wildwood, N.J., "the last great American blue-collar seaside carnival town," is warmly observed by the tough and spunky women who return year after year to spend their summers on the boardwalk. Filmmaker Carol Cassidy said, "I made the pilgrimage to Wildwood every summer of my life. The town is in my blood....I am a lifelong witness to the pick-ups, make-outs, come-ons, drug deals, fist fights, and family dramas of Wildwood," a familiarity apparent in the rapport she and Ruth Leitman establish with the working class girls and women they interview. In overlapping overflowing conversations, young and old women talk of never-ending friendships, first sexual experiences, and dreams searched for in Wildwood, where "you never know what will happen," and your mother worries about what you will do.

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