St. Louis Filmmakers Showcase runs July 17-21
By Stephanie Covington
For the St. Louis American
African-American directors are representing this year during the St. Louis Filmmakers Showcase, July 17 through 21. Entries in the showcase range from short films and documentaries to music videos and public announcements. A couple of entries included in the showcase were submitted by elementary and middle school students.
Chris Clark, executive director of Cinema St. Louis, said his staff had the tough task of choosing between 105 entries. Out of the total number of submissions, over 50 were chosen for the showcase. Clark said the St. Louis film scene is definitely growing and thriving.
Victor Nash participated in the first filmmakers showcase in 2001 with a 13-minute film entitled “The Meeting.” This year, a Jia Davis music video entitled “The Drought,” featuring Santone from a jazz album, will be shown on July 19. Nash said his passion is to produce, even though he’s directed shorts, documentaries and music videos.
“My projects are a diverse style, because I have lots of different people working with me,” Nash said.
Nash considers his work to be life depicted through the art form of film. He is part of a group compiled of local artists called Bits and Pieces. Nash, along with his cousin Cornelius “Cat” Davis, created a two-year documentary on Bits and Pieces, which aired on PBS. He said since his cousin’s death three years ago he has continued to try and cover all bases of production.
Nash said there seems to be a lot of African-American directors in St. Louis, but not so many in the film genre. He said he wants to entertain through his work and plans to attend the showing of “The Drought” and debut another of his music videos entitled “Just Dance,” which is a Bits and Pieces production, shot at the Red Sea.
Clement Cann, manager of the St. Louis Public School Television Station (SLPS TV), said he’s proud of the works submitted by Gateway Elementary and Carr-Lane Middle School students. Both pieces were submitted to the showcase after winning the district-wide video festival and winning awards.
Both pieces will be shown on July 20 in the “Kid Stuff” program. Cann said the Gateway Elementary project, entitled “Manners,” was done in a very creative way. The six-minute piece was done in a public-service format, addressing appropriate and inappropriate grade school behavior.
The Carr-Lane Middle documentary, entitled “2005 Black History Program,” was directed by Tomminesha Matchingtouch and Seirra Williams. Cann said the seven-minute piece features interviews of a local artist and a Brazilian drummer.
“We emphasize that these are student-produced and not instructor-produced works,” Cann said.
Clark said the showcase exhibits the work of filmmakers living and working in St. Louis, allowing them to meet each other and see each other’s works. After the showcase, Clark said about 20 filmmakers will be chosen to have their pieces shown in the St. Louis International Film Festival. He said getting into the showcase is already a huge complement for area filmmakers, but the film festival offers an added bonus.
The St. Louis Filmmakers Showcase runs from July 17 through 21 at the Tivoli in the main auditorium. For a schedule and ticket information, please call (314) 454-0042 ex. 10. or visit www.cinemastlouis.org.