Now Covering: The Saint Louis International Film Festival
Cinema St. Louis (CSL) is pleased to announce the 31st Annual Whitaker St. Louis International Film Festival (SLIFF), taking place November 3-13. As part of this year's festival, a wide variety of films will be screened in multiple venues throughout the St. Louis area. In addition, there are two new locations in St. Charles and Edwardsville.
The festival is proud to present 256 films, including over 100 documentaries and narrative features alongside 21 short film programs from 42 countries in more than 35 languages. Apart from offering a wide variety of centrally located venues, the SLIFF strives to maintain accessibility by offering 29 film programs for free, and all virtual programming for a discounted rate of $5.
All short film programs will be available for streaming through Eventive during the festival. In addition, there will be 11 narrative features and 7 documentary features that will also be available for streaming. (Films available online will be restricted to viewers in Missouri and Illinois only.)
Plaza Frontenac, Lindbergh Boulevard and Clayton Road
Among the highlights of the festival are the opening night film, Empire of Light, starring Olivia Colman and Colin Firth (review), as well as the closing night film, Women Talking, featuring Claire Foy, Rooney Mara, and Frances McDormand. The SLIFF Centerpiece Spotlight is the film about the power of journalism, She Said starring Carey Mulligan and Zoe Kazan.
The fest will offer a variety of thought-provoking documentaries including Lavar Burton's story and the life of Reading Rainbow's in Butterfly in the Sky, Charlie Trotter's gastronomic revolution in Love, Charlie: The Rise and Fall of Chef Charlie Trotter, the journey of the veteran interplanetary Mars Exploration Rover in Good Night Oppy, and All That Breathes, the winner of the World Documentary Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival in 2022 and will also be screening as part of Seattle’s Tasveer South Asian Film Festival, which is also going on now.
Some outstanding films to keep an eye out for are: Corsage, an in-depth look at Empress Elisabeth of Austria's life after she was deemed an old woman at the age of 40, Pinball: The Man Who Saved the Game, the story of Roger Sharpe, the young midwesterner who overturned New York City's 35 year-old ban on pinball machines, and Holy Spider, which follows a journalist as she descends into the dark underbelly of the Iranian holy city of Mashhad on the hunt for a serial killer.
CSL’s new executive director, Bree Maniscalco, shared: “We are excited to welcome back members of our community, in whatever way they choose to experience SLIFF. We still wish for our patrons to feel safe at the fest this year so we will continue to monitor new covid variants but we also believe film is most impactful when we experience it together. All of us have a memory in a movie theater, whether it be our first time in front of the big screen, sharing popcorn with a date, or laughing with a packed house. And SLIFF offers local film lovers a chance to travel around the world, experiencing untold stories that inspire and transform.”
Sponsors:
Whitaker Foundation, The Chesire, Cool Fire Studios, Hawkins Foundation, Missouri Arts Council, Missouri Film Office, Pulitzer Arts Foundation, Signarama, and more
For more information on the festival, including the full line up, schedule, tickets, andspecial events, go to: https://www.cinemastlouis.org/sliff/festival-home