The St. Louis International Film Festival (SLIFF) has closed for 2008. This year’s festival brought us dozens of fine films from all nations around the world. We had a Swedish 12 year old vampire, a wrestler fighting off extinction, a 10 year-old’s view of the Holocaust and an Indian boy who wins big on the local game show.  Every year the St. Louis Film Critics Assoc. Each year the association gives the “Best in Fest’ award to the critic’s selection as the best feature-length narrative film in the festival. This years jury consisted of: Oscar “Movie Guru” Davis (KSDK-TV), Cate Marquis (St. Louis Jewish Light), Mark Glass & Rob Levy (KDHX-FM), Calvin Wilson & Joe Williams (ST. Louis Post Dispatch) and Sandy Olmsted (Cinematic Skinny). I’m sure after long deliberation the field was narrowed to six films.

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas (UK/US)

The Class (French)

I’ve Loved You So Long (French)

O’Horton (Norwiegen)

The Wrestler (US)

Slumdog Millionaire (UK/India)

The winner of the 2008 Best in Fest Award is Slumdog Millionaire!

The critics also annouced another award, The inaugural “Under The Radar Award”. The Under The Radar Award is is given to the film that drew less attention from the audiences but did well in international film festivals. The 2008 winner of the “Under The Radar” Award is The Unknown Woman (Italy).

The S.L.I.F.F. is an annual festival that runs 10 days during the fall. If you missed this years, check the theaters, DVD racks or WeAreMovieGeeks.com to see where you can catch some of the festival films from this year. Make a note on your calender now!,  so that you don’t miss out next year!