To truly appreciate the scale of film festival that Cinema St. Louis presents annually with its St. Louis International Film Festival, one would have to visit one of the globally renowned festivals that are synonymous with the world cinema scene.
Tribeca, Sundance, The American Black Film Festival and the others may have the glitter of celebrity guests and star power. But in nearly every other category than the paparazzi-filled red carpets, SLIFF can hold its own. Actually, when it comes to the intention of diversity with respect to creating a space for filmmakers and narratives that reflect people of color, SLIFF has given itself a competitive edge.
SLIFF has grown into one of our city’s shining cultural gems over the past quarter-century – and next Thursday, November 3 SLIFF will celebrate its 25th year of bringing the best in festival film circuit and related programming to the St. Louis region.
This year’s festival will screen 419 films: 111 narrative features, 73 documentary features, and 235 shorts. The fest also will feature 15 special-event programs, including four free master classes and the closing-night party. This year’s festival has 72 countries represented with more than 140 filmmakers and related guests.
“On the occasion of our 25th anniversary, SLIFF celebrates with several fond looks backward,” Cinema St. Louis notes on the SLIFF portion of its website, ahead of the Whitaker 25th Annual St. Louis International Film Festival that runs November 3-13.
From the very beginning, diversity has been top of mind – which will be evident when SLIFF presents a restored a version of the Julie Dash cinematic masterpiece “Daughters of the Dust” – which played at the inaugural festival back in 1992.
That same year, the film – about a South Carolina family of the Gullah tradition preparing to head north as part of the Great Migration at the turn of the 20th century – became the first full-length film by an African-American woman with general theatrical release in the United States.
“Daughters of the Dust” will screen as part of Race in America, the sidebar within SLIFF programming that speaks to the African-American experience. Race in America, created as a result of the unrest in Ferguson, is a platform to explore and observe the black experience through film and create a space for dialogue.
This year’s Race in America films, local and national, illustrate the complexity within the narrative of African Americans. They include documentaries “Maya Angelou: And Still I Rise,” “Doc Shorts: Black Lives,” “The Pruitt-Igoe Myth” and “Gentlemen of Vision,” the story of the nationally renowned step team at Riverview Gardens High School.
“Given the significance of the anniversary, SLIFF wanted to engage in some nostalgic reverie but also was determined to address the present and look to the future,” Cinema St. Louis notes.
This year they will expand their programming on race to include “Mean Streets: Viewing the Divided City Through the Lens of Film and Television.” A program of The Divided City: An Urban Humanities Initiative, “Mean Streets” explores the legacy of segregation. Sponsored by the Center for the Humanities at Washington University and Washington University Libraries, and presented in partnership with Missouri History Museum and The Common Reader, the entire slate of features and shorts will be free of charge for patrons of SLIFF.
In addition to giving St. Louis filmgoers an opportunity to view the finest in world cinema, SLIFF will recognize people of color – two with St. Louis roots – as a part of its silver anniversary awards programming. Filmmaker Charles Burnett, and documentarian Gordon Quinn will be among the Lifetime Achievement Award recipients. St. Louis native and Disney animator Marlon West will be bestowed with a Cinema St. Louis Award, and producer Kimberly Steward, daughter of David and Thelma Steward, will receive a Women in Film Award.
Cinema St. Louis will present the 25th Annual Whitaker St. Louis International Film Festival from November 3-13. For a full schedule of films, venues related programming and additional information, visit www.cinemastlouis.org or call (314) 289-4150.
