Movies
ELEGY FOR CONNIE Screens This Friday Night at Eliot Chapel in Kirkwood
ELEGY TO CONNIE will screen at Eliot Chapel in Kirkwood Friday, January 16th at 7pm
Charles Lee “Cookie” Thornton lived in the predominately black Meachum Park section of Kirkwood. On February 7, 2008 he wrote a note that promised, “The truth will win out in the end”, then drove to Kirkwood City Hall with a gun. Outside, he shot and killed Kirkwood Police Sgt. Bill Biggs and took his gun. Inside the council chamber, he killed Officer Tom Ballman, four city officials, and critically wounded the mayor, who would die of his injuries a few months later. One of those murdered was Councilwoman and mayoral candidate Connie Karr and the documentary ELEGY TO CONNIE is a tribute to her. The touching and unusual film employs nothing but stop-motion animation to address the events leading up to and following the Kirkwood City Council shooting. Filmmaker Sarah Paulsen animated drawings, pieces of fabric, Claymation, charcoal, water color, architectural drawings, magazine cut-outs, even a Spirograph to tell this story. She could have just interviewed these people and made a conventional doc, but that’s clearly not her style. The result is a dizzying kaleidoscope of images that never stop moving. The story is told in narration by a group of Kirkwood women – Nancy Luetzow, Gina Jaksetic, Harriet Patton, Joyce Gregory, Anne Bedwinek and Lucy Ryan, who were bound together by their friendship with Connie Karr. Made in collaboration with these women, ELEGY TO CONNIE addresses the complicated issues surrounding the shooting and celebrates Connie’s legacy as a leader. Don’t miss ELEGY TO CONNIE when it screens at Eliot Chapel in Kirkwood Friday, January 16th at 7pm. The film will be followed by small group discussions.
Eliot Chapel is located at
100 S. Taylor.
Kirkwood, MO 63122
The screening is FREE, but seating is limited to 70 people. Please show up a few minutes early to reserve a seat.
The screening occurs as part of the Animus Film Festival, a film circuit that presents social change films made in and/or about the St. Louis region as a catalyst for conversation and dialogue among community groups.
The film was funded through University City CALOP Grant, a Mid-America Arts Alliance Grant, and a RAC Artist Support Grant. The film has previously screened at the St. Louis International Film Festival, the St. Louis Filmmaker’s Showcase, and Fort Gondo.
The Facebook invite for the event can be found HERE
https://www.facebook.com/events/663434547099349/
Read my interview with filmmaker Sarah Paulsen HERE
http://www.wearemoviegeeks.com/2014/11/sliff-interview-sarah-paulsen-director-elegy-connie/
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