Wild in the Streets

Once upon a time, in the town of Ashbourne, England, a virgin was sacrificed and her decapitated head was booted about the streets. Thus the sport of Shrovetide — which eventually evolved into soccer, rugby, and football — was born. We shit thee not. Peter Baxter’s documentary Wild in the Streets looks at the town’s annual two-day, grueling, nonstop mass football game that celebrates each goal with a drink at the pub. The screening is part of the Royal Oak Film Society’s series of indie movie premieres taking place every other month. Best of all, the organizers bring in the filmmakers to meet with the audience. Baxter, who is also the co-founder and director of the Slamdance Film festival, will be on hand for an after-movie Q&A. (See Jeff Meyers’ review in the Screens section.)