SLIFF 2015 Lineup Announced; Alex Winter’s DEEP WEB Opening Night Film

The schedule for the 24th Annual Whitaker St. Louis International Film Festival (SLIFF) has been announced and once again film goers will be offered the best in cutting edge features and shorts from around the globe.

The festival takes place November 5-15, 2015.

SLIFF kicks off on November 5 with the opening-night selection, DEEP WEB, with director Alex Winter, who’s honored with the Charles Guggenheim Cinema St. Louis Award. (Trailer)

Highlights from this year’s festival include:

• The 33
• Anomalisa
• The Assassin
• Brooklyn
• Carol
• I Saw the Light
• Krisha
• The Lady in the Van
• Legend
• Love the Coopers
• Remember
• Son of Saul
• Touched with Fire
• Youth

THE 33

According to SLIFF, the festival will feature more than 125 filmmaking guests, including honorees: actor/director Alex Winter, winner of the Charles Guggenheim Cinema St. Louis Award; director Trent Harris, winner of the Contemporary Cinema Award; and director Rosemary Rodriguez, winner of the Women in Film Award.

Full information on SLIFF films, including synopses, dates/time, and links for purchase of advance tickets, will be available on their website by October 15.

Check the site regularly for updates: http://cinemastlouis.org/about-festival

The St. Louis International Film Festival is one of the largest and highest­ profile international film festivals in the Midwest. The majority of the films screened – many of them critically lauded award winners – will receive their only St. Louis exposure at the festival.

Celebrating its 24th anniversary in 2015, SLIFF is presented by the nonprofit Cinema St. Louis, which also annually produces the locally focused St. Louis Filmmakers Showcase, the LGBTQ-­focused QFest, and the Classic French Film Festival. In addition, Cinema St. Louis is the local producer of the 48 Hour Film Project and hosts educational programs, competitions, screenings, and special events throughout the year.

Attendance has increased steadily during the festival’s two decades, with 23,287 filmgoers attending in 2014.

Because SLIFF is one of only three dozen fests that serve as qualifying events for Oscar live­-action and animated narrative shorts, the festival has an especially strong selection of short subjects. In fact, in 2006, the Best Short Film­Live Action winner, “West Bank Story,” received Oscar consideration because it won SLIFF’s “Best of Fest” shorts award in 2005. In 2014, the Academy added SLIFF as a qualifying festival for documentary shorts.