Soul, history, hope, segregation and St. Louis are central themes among the dozen or so films that comprise the African and African-American sidebars for Cinema St. Louis’ 21st annual St. Louis International Film Festival.
Stories that detail civil rights, the power of music life in the Diaspora that are expressed through documentary, shorts and feature films are among the hundreds of selections during each year’s festival. But for 2012 a unique mix of subjects and profiles, audiences will be inspired and motivated through activism and artistic contributions birthed right here in St. Louis.
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Envisioning Home
“We are going to keep rent striking until somebody does something because we know somebody can do something. They’re saying that they are bankrupt. We are too. They’re saying they can’t do anymore. We can’t either. The tenants don’t have the money. They can’t pay this type of money and eat too – so I’m telling people to eat and damn the rent! – Jean King
The power, inflection and passion of Jean King’s voice as she led the tenant strike could rival any of the civil rights leaders when she addressed the media during the landmark tenants’ strike in St. Louis during the late 1960s.
A set of divine delays and happenstances as she prepared to move her family out of public housing made her an accidental shero. After witnessing a hungry child who was forced to starve because of rising rent, she casually visited a tenant strike meeting. There she would be introduced to Richard Baron – and together the two of them would not only become a catalyst to change public housing, but create a new landscape with respect to urban living.
Through his film Envisioning Home: The Jean King and Richard Baron Story, Jason Epperson takes viewers through the journey of King and Baron’s unlikely partnership. Audiences see the strength and possibilities that lie within the conviction to fight for what’s right.
Baron and King’s efforts grabbed the attention of the nation and through Envisioning Home St. Louis has the opportunity to see the birth of  urban development pioneer Baron, McCormack, Salazar/Urban Strategies and their successful mixed-income neighborhoods created across the country.
Envisioning Home: The Jean King and Richard Baron Story will screen on Wednesday, Nov. 14 at The High Pointe Theatre
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The Siren of the Tropics/The Other Josephine
Icon, sex symbol, singer, dancer, actress, civil rights activist and goddess could all be used to effectively describe Josephine Baker. Her sensuality and raw talent are public domain, but through special double feature presentation, St. Louis audience gets to see both sides of Baker in the place where it all began.
In the French silent film The Siren of the Tropics, Mario Nalpas introduces Baker as Papitou. In the film Baker is an exotic natural beauty from the Antilles who works to protect the protagonist Andre – an engineer looking forward to returning to France so he can marry his true love – from the schemes of a native villager.
In The Other Side of Josephine, Phillip Judith-Gozlin takes Baker fans from the bright lights of the Paris stage to her St. Louis roots – even visiting her childhood neighborhood and the street named in her honor. Family and friends lovingly refer to her as Tumpie.
The real Josephine Baker, or Freda Josephine McDonald, is exposed to the audience through footage and stories. The viewer is carried through her humble beginnings – as an illegitimate bi-racial impoverished child in St. Louis. Her beloved rainbow tribe of adopted children are among those who help illustrate who she was as an entertainer, mother and woman.
The Siren of the Tropics/The Other Josephine will screen on Friday, Nov. 16 at 7 p.m. at Webster University’s Moore Auditorium.
Cinema St. Louis’ presentation of the Whitaker 21st Annual St. Louis International Film Festival will take place November 8-18 at several locations. For more information and a full schedule of films, events and activities surrounding this year’s festival visit www.cinemastlouis.org or call (314) 289-4150.
