2013 ST. LOUIS BLACK FILM FESTIVAL September 15-18

The Second Annual St. Louis Black Film Festival will be September 15-18 2013 at Wehrenberg Ronnies 20 Cine 5320 Lindbergh Blvd. Saint Louis, Missouri. The first St. Louis Black Film Festival was in February of 2012 and was a classic series, designed to present some black film history during Black History Month, and featured such gems as RAISIN IN THE SUN, SUPERFLY, and COOLEY HIGH. This year, all the films screened will be new movies and not only will feature length films be screened, but music videos, short films, and short documentaries as well.

The St. Louis Black Film Festival provides the American Midwest with a forum for African American independent film and video, and also serves as an advocate for African American film and video production in the state of Missouri. The Festival seeks to introduce the best films and videos from the surrounding area to its culturally diverse, film-loving audiences STLBFF was initially established as a vehicle for exposing Black cinema. The event was green-lighted after recognition that though St. Louis is the largest city in Missouri, it did not have a viable Black film festival. Independent filmmakers with films featuring a Black, African American, African, or African Diaspora subject matter or that feature a Black, African, or AfricanAmerican as a central or starring character will find that SLTBFF offers an outstanding opportunity to present their film before sophisticated and eager audiences.

Tickets for film programs September 16-18, 2013 at Wehrenberg’s Ronnies 20 (5320 S. Lindbergh Blvd. ) are $10 per night and can be purchased each night of the festival at the theatre. No phone or online sales.

HERE IS THE SCHEDULE FOR THE 2013 ST. LOUIS BLACK FILM FESTIVAL:

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 15

Free Opening Reception at LEGACY BOOKS & CAFÉ located at 5249 DELMAR BLVD. (at Union – In Delmar Plaza), 5:00PM-9PM. This is a FREE event (no ticket required ). Hor d’oeuvres and wine will be served

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 16

BLACK FILM FESTIVAL PANEL/LECTURE SERIES

Executive Producer of “Welcome To Sweetie Pies” Jeff Keane and Producer and Director Chris Benson will lead discussions on Producing and Directing for Film and from Noon to 3pm. Cost $10. Location: LEGACY BOOKS & CAFÉ located at 5249 DELMAR BLVD

Jeff Keane has been Executive Producer for –Fast N’ Loud (Discovery), Welcome to Sweetie Pie’s (OWN), Funeral Boss (Discovery Fit & Health), Salvage City (Discovery), Resale Royalty (Style), Alternate Route (Esquire) MFF:Mon Friends Forever (NickMom) and Meet The Brekels (Lifetime).

In 1999 Chris Benson’s first 35mm feature film “Hairdo U” brought him attention from producers in Los Angeles. Chris has also shot 2nd Unit/ Additional Photography for such films as “Alice Upside Down”, “Saving Shilo”, “Saving Grace B. Jones directed by Connie Stevens, and the Oscar nominated Paramount Pictures film “Up In The Air”. The success of his Music Videos have led him to shoot such iconic characters as Nelly, Chingy, Richard Marx, Murphy Lee, Lil Wil and Yo Gotti.

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 16

Location: Wehrenberg Ronnies 20 Cine 5320 Lindbergh Blvd. Saint Louis, Missouri
$10 for the evening includes all of these films:

BREEZEWOOD (Directors: Jon Sherman, Jonathan Tazewell ) showing at 5:00pm
Eight-year-old Frieda Brown has her first encounter with racism while stopping in Breezewood, Pennsylvania, as she and her parents travel from Ohio to Virginia in June of 1968.

ONE LAST SUNSET (Directed by: Kevin Richmond) showing at 5:15pm
Two sisters struggle to exist after an apocalyptic virus turns the entire human population into flesh eating zombies. Starring; Brandy Brown, Alma Hill.

LOVE DEFEATED (directed by Bashi Rose) showing at 6:30pm
A heartbroken yet determined poet dreams and ponders as he leaves the U.S. and travels to European cities in pursuit of the woman he loves

JIM CROW TO BARACK OBAMA (Directed by Denise Ward Brown) showing at 7:00pm
Two groups are involved in this documnetary. The first: African American elders who are at least 75-years-old having grown up in the now extinct era of Jim Crow. The second: young people ages 16 through 25. The youth will conduct video history interviews with the octogenarians.

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 17

Location: Wehrenberg Ronnies 20 Cine 5320 Lindbergh Blvd. Saint Louis, Missouri

$10 for the evening includes all of these films:

RETURN showing at 5:00pm
A young veteran returns from Iraq to his lower income, inner city community and finds difficulty readjusting to life back home, while internalizing the guilt he feels as a result of leaving his buddies at war.

LOU’S PREY showing at 5:15
When Troy James decides to steal money from his boss Notorious Crime Boss Fat Reggie he becomes a marked man. Kuroda Red, Reggie’s hit man is hot on his trail.

WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE (Director: Michael Challenger) showing at 5:40pm
A young man surprises his family with a deep dark secret that puts them in an uncompromising truth.

INTERLUDE (Directed by Bolaji Tijani-Qudus) showing at 6:10
Kenny Anderson is having a good time at the bar with his buddy. He receives a disturbing call from his son. Kenny jets to his ex-wife’s home to confront her new boyfriends.

FOUR OF HEARTS (Directed by Eric Heywood) showing at 6:25
Stuck in a six-month sexual ‘dry spell,’ a young husband and wife decide to rekindle their love life by having a onenight stand with another couple.

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 18

Location: Wehrenberg Ronnies 20 Cine 5320 Lindbergh Blvd. Saint Louis, Missouri

$10 for the evening includes all of these films:

SOUL MATES (Directed by Reginald Jackson) Showing at 5:00pm
SOUL MATES is an effusive love story about two people separated by time and trickery. Reginald and Anita pledged their love to each other ten years ago, but ten years later they have grown into two different people from two separate worlds.

AYANA (Directed by Calvin Jung) Showing at 5:40pm
Based on the Stephen King short story of the same name, Don ‘Doc’ Gentry is miraculously healed of pancreatic cancer by a simple kiss from Ayana, who disappears shortly thereafter, but not before she passes the gift of healing – and its price – to Doc’s son.

SWEET, SWEET COUNTRY (Directed by Dehanza Rogers) Showing at 6:30pm
Living in a small Southern town, 20 year-old refugee Ndizeye, struggles to support not only herself, but the family she left behind in a Kenyan refugee camp. Her struggle becomes so much more when her family literally shows up at her doorstep.

World Premiere of THE SUSPECT (Directed by Stuart Connelly) Showing at 7:00pm
Two African American social scientists pose as bank robbers in an effort to understand the racial dynamics of small-town law enforcement. However, their experiment takes an unplanned, deadly turn. Stars Mekhi Phifer and William Sadler.

For more info go to www.facebook. com/st.louisblackfilmfestival

or email jamesthemovieman@gmail.com