Party Girl (1995 film)
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Daisy von Scherler Mayer |
| Written by | Harry Birckmayer Sheila Gaffney Daisy von Scherler Mayer |
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| Music by | Anton Sanko |
| Cinematography | Michael Slovis |
| Edited by | Cara Silverman |
| Distributed by | First Look Pictures |
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Release date
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Running time
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94 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $150,000 (estimated) |
Party Girl is a 1995 film directed by Daisy von Scherler Mayer starring Parker Posey. It is notable as being the first commercial comedy-drama feature film shown in its entirety on the Internet.
Party Girl follows the misadventures of free-spirited Mary (Posey), who spends all of her time dancing in clubs and throwing house parties. When she is arrested for illegally charging attendees at an underground rave, she calls upon her godmother, Judy Lindendorf (Sasha von Scherler), to bail her out. So Mary can repay the loan, Judy employs her as a clerk at the library where she works. Mary reluctantly begins her new job while striking up a romance with Lebanese street vendor and aspiring teacher Mustafa (Omar Townsend). She gradually becomes very good at her job, in particular by mastering the Dewey Decimal System, but she gets fired after having sex with Mustafa in the library. With no money to pay the rent, she and her roommate Leo (Guillermo Diaz), a club DJ, are evicted from her apartment.
During one of her parties, Mary has a fight with Mustafa and takes drugs to forget. Her friend Nigel (Liev Schreiber) tries to take advantage of her, but she fights him off. The next day, she decides to get her life in order and become a librarian. She invites Judy over to talk, but when they arrive Mary discovers to her horror that her friends have thrown her a surprise birthday party, complete with a male stripper. Mary tells a skeptical Judy that she has finally found her calling in life, and Mustafa and Leo tell Judy that Mary used her library science skills to help them with their careers. Impressed, Judy gives Mary her job back, and joins her god-daughter in dancing with her friends.
Much of the film takes place in clubs and at parties, and a supporting character is a DJ. There are many scenes directly discussing or playing music appropriate to the mid-1990s club scene, several local performers, and most music is diegetic, being clearly played in the scene.
Party Girl premiered on the Internet on June 3, 1995, transmitted from Glenn Fleishman's Point of Presence Company (POPCO). Appearing live in the POPCO offices, Posey welcomed Internet viewers and then introduced the film. Fleishman recalled the event:
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