“There hasn’t been one in more than 20 years, and there is a need,” said James Thomas, who has been working for the past year to breathe new life into a forgone legacy in the area.
“We have The Missouri Black Expo and the Gateway Classic – why not a black film festival?”
Doing so actually wasn’t his idea. According to Thomas, he was issued a challenge by Laura Resnick, publicist for Landmark Theatres St. Louis. “She told me a lot of people have tried and failed and said, ‘If anybody can do it, you can,’” he said.
He answered the Resnick’s charge in a way that not only gave him the will to bring the festival back to St. Louis audiences, but add new perspectives to his passion for the cinema.
The St. Louis Black Film Festival returns to town next week at the Tivoli. Thomas will offer a host of films that he expects to cater to all audiences. By reintroducing the platform, he hopes to not only entertain, but engage and encourage both viewers and aspiring filmmakers.
“For the first year, my goal was just to see it happen,” Thomas said. “Now I have all sorts of ideas brewing for what we can offer for next year.”
Actor/director/filmmakers such as Bill Duke and Robert Townsend are on his wish list for future festivals as he hopes to build an institution to promote local films and filmmakers from every angle.
“My plan for next year is to bring in people for classes and workshops and to talk about filmmakers and organizations that people in St. Louis may not know about,” Thomas said.
“Film festivals are about exposing films that audiences don’t typically get to see through the mainstream. But while a festival is a showing, it is an education as well. However for this year, the plan was to make it happen – period.”
For St. Louis Black Film Festival 2011, Thomas’ hope is that audiences will grow culturally, spiritually and emotionally and learn from the selections (including music videos, short films and full-length features) as they are entertained. The films run the gamut with regards to the black experience – from The Great Migration, the rich musical history and connection among African Americans and the seemingly genetic will to transcend beyond the most deplorable circumstances. Even Thomas himself had an epiphany while watching one of the selections.
“Every year we would go to visit family in Arkansas when I was a child, and my parents used to pack the food,” Thomas said. “I didn’t realize that people didn’t want us and that’s why we didn’t stop until I saw Up From the Bottom.”
It hasn’t been easy to make the dream of a full-fledged revival of St. Louis Black Film Festival a reality, but as he pressed forward he relied on words of wisdom he received from two of the most famous names in the industry while making his rounds in the movie business as a television host and critic.
“I had the pleasure to meet Denzel Washington during The Great Debaters and Will Smith when he did the red carpet event here in St. Louis a few years back,” Thomas said.
“And hearing what inspired them inspired me. Denzel told me, ‘You do what you have to do in order to do what you want to do.’ And I asked Will what he would offer as advice for young actors coming up, and he said, ‘Relentless determination.’ As I worked to pull this festival together, I did what I had to do with relentless determination.”
He feels that the festival can become a new outlet for those lovers and creators of cinema who don’t have access to an industry Mecca like New York or Los Angeles, but he also hopes that the legacy of Hasape Kushma – creator of the original St. Louis Black Film Festival – continues through his work and the support of the city.
“I’m just looking forward to seeing it happening,” Thomas said. “And to see it become a source of pride and something we celebrate as African Americans in St. Louis.”
The St. Louis Black Film Festival will take place on July 18 – 19 at the Landmark Tivoli Theatres (6350 Delmar in the U. City Loop). Screenings begin at 3:30 p.m. both days. For more information on the festival and the full schedule of selections, visit www.facebook. com/st.louisblackfilmfestival.
