SLIFF 2016 – Tribute to Kim Tucci November 9th with Screening of HAROLD AND MAUDE

“Who sends dead flowers to a funeral? It’s absurd!”

HAROLD AND MAUDE screens after a reception for Kim Tucci Wednesday, November 9th at 6:00pm at Delmar Hall (6133 Delmar Blvd.). Ticket information can be found HERE

6 p.m. – Cocktail Reception
7:30 p.m. – Program: Lifetime Achievement Award Presentation, J. Kim Tucci
Auction to Benefit Cinema St. Louis
8 p.m. – Screening of HAROLD AND MAUDE (Kim’s favorite film)

Cinema St. Louis pays tribute to longtime board chair Kim Tucci as part of SLIFF’s 25th-anniversary celebration. Kim’s service to the St. Louis region includes investing in the community, raising funds to fight disease, and enabling projects of civic pride. And still, somehow, he finds time to enjoy the movies. While many cinephiles would be content with outings to the local multiplex, Kim has put his love of film to greater use by serving on the board of Cinema St. Louis for the past decade, chairing the organization since 2008. He also served for many years as chair of the Missouri Film Commission. His selfless work has both helped build the film industry here in Missouri and allowed Cinema St. Louis to bring some of the world’s best films to St. Louis. The evening — held at the recently opened Delmar Hall — begins with a cocktail reception at 6 p.m. and is followed by a program that includes a Lifetime Achievement Award presentation, a live auction to benefit Cinema St. Louis, and a short conversation about movies between Kim and Y98’s Guy Phillips. The night is capped with a screening of one of Kim’s favorite films, HAROLD AND MAUDE. The tribute portion of the program is a fundraiser for Cinema St. Louis, but the screening of HAROLD AND MAUDE — which starts at 8 p.m. — is free and open to all (though donations are encouraged).

HAROLD AND MAUDE is a funny and quirky May-December romance from 1971 between  20-something morbid rich kid Harold with a holocaust-survivor Maude who is approaching her 80th. Both are enthusiastic funeral-crashers Harold is a pasty boy obsessed with death; frequently playing suicide pranks at home so much so that his mother (Vivian Pickles) doesn’t take it seriously at all. This happens in the opening scene which sets the black comedy tone of the film directed by Hal Ashby and featuring a famous song score by Cat Stevens.Maude is a loud, aggressive, live-for-the-moment type. Her interests (besides crashing funerals) include stealing cars and she’s never afraid to speak her mind. She makes Harold’s life exciting and he soon finds himself falling in love with her. Needless to say, his mom doesn’t approve of the relationship. Harold is played by the odd-looking but talented Bud Cort and Maude by Ruth Gordon whose every line in the film is memorable and amusing. There are some funny moments in the film involving Maude and the police and although the movie is silly and far-fetched at times, it does encourage you to live life to the fullest. It’s a funny script and well-acted and although not a success upon its first release, it has found a deserved cult following through the years.