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There is Still Time to Enjoy The St. Louis Film Festival
by Sandra Olmsted
Each year the St. Louis International Film Festival (SLIFF) bring an amazing array of film to the St. Louis public including some first run movies that haven’t opened yet, and some films which will never play in anywhere else in St. Louis. Because playing at SLIFF qualifies films for to be considered for a nomination by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, many of the international films are the “official selections” of their country of origin. Thus they are consideration as Best Foreign Language Film, of which five will be nominated for an Oscar.
For the film history buffs, there is also programs which revive classics, one kind or another, and there are numerous sidebars which group films according to genre, theme, or subject. While tickets for the festival run $12 dollars, there are many free films, events, and classes.
While some of the early screenings of big films, such as The 33, Brooklyn, and Carol, happened last weekend, there is still time to catch the SLIFF presentations of Remember, starring Christopher Plummer as a man looking to avenge the murder of his family and struggling with memory loss, and The Lady in the Van, starring Maggie Smith in the “mostly true story” of a woman who “temporarily” parks her van in playwright Alan Bennett’s London driveway in 1970 and lives there for 15 years.
On Nov. 9 the HiPointe sold out the main theater for the only St. Louis screening of Jaean-Luc Godard’s 3D film, Goodbye to Language, rumored to be last film the 84-year-old famed French New Wave director will make. However, many of the films screened at SLIFF will never play elsewhere in St. Louis, and some not for a year or two.
The International Spotlight sidebar brings the best of international cinema to St. Louis, offering audiences the opportunity to experience the world through acclaimed and compelling narratives and documentaries. Many times, thanks to the hard work by the small staff of the Cinema St. Louis, which presents the festival, SLIFF has been the only place to see recent and future nominees for Best Foreign Language Films. SLIFF also offers many English language documentaries, which also qualify for Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences consideration, and SLIFF’s website allows the audience to search the documentaries by subject.
Although Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure, which screened last weekend, may not seem classic to some audiences, on Friday the 13th, SLIFF is also screening a Todd Browning double bill of The Unknown and the disturbing cult classic Freaks, introduced by Movie Geeks reviewer Tom Stockman. Screening from an archival 35mm print, the silent The Unknown, which stars master of makeup Lon Chaney and a young Joan Crawford, will be accompanied by St. Louis’ Rats & People Motion Picture Orchestra, which plays an original score composed especially for this event. SLIFF also showed a double feature which included Alfred Hitchcock’s Notorious starring Ingrid Bergman and Cary Grant, and the documentary Hitchcock/Truffaut, based on the famed interview by Francois Truffaut of the master himself.
A big thank you to the Cinema St. Louis staff, Executive Director Cliff Froehlich, Artistic Director Chris Clark, Operations Supervisor Brian Spath, Tech Supervisor Kat Touschner, and Development Director Rita Hiscocks, for doing this year after year. A big thank you to all the other volunteers and contributors who made the 24th annual Whitaker St. Louis International Film Festival possible. Check out the SLIFF website for more information <www.cinemastlouis.org>.
