First Fridays: St. Louis Filmmakers Showcase Sampler – October 6th at The Public Media Commons

The St. Louis Filmmakers Showcase Sampler will screen October 6th at The Public Media Commons, located at 3653 Olive St. in the Grand Center Arts District, between the Nine Network of Public Media and St. Louis Public Radio. Food and drink will be available for purchase. This is a FREE event. 

As part of First Fridays in Grand Center, the Nine Network of Public Media, St. Louis Public Radio, and Cinema St. Louis present the St. Louis Filmmakers Showcase Sampler at the Public Media Commons. Please bring chairs or blankets for seating as this is an outdoor event.

The 13 short films in the program are encore selections from the 2017 St. Louis Filmmakers Showcase, which was held in July at the Tivoli Theatre. This annual event puts the spotlight on talented local filmmakers of all ages.

The program is highlighted by Mike Steinberg’s “Lester Leaps In,” a 30-min. comedy set at a lumber mill in 1970s Montana, where a middle manager struggles to produce a safety film. Steinberg is the former head of the Webster U. Film Series, and his film won multiple jury awards at the Showcase.

Before the program, Cinema St. Louis will also present a sneak peek at select films that will screen at the 26th Annual Whitaker St. Louis International Film Festival, held Nov. 2-12, 2017.

The Public Media Commons is a collaboration of the Nine Network of Public Media, the University of Missouri-St. Louis, and St. Louis Public Radio. The Public Media Commons is managed by the Nine Network and is privately funded by local contributors. The Public Media Commons is a 9,000-square-foot space flanked by large-screen video walls — two stories high — on two sides. Equipped with the latest technology, the space encourages sharing and creating audiovisual experiences in a dynamic cityscape conducive to collaboration and experimentation.

Be Light 
Damon Gaige Leco, 3 min.
Roaming the ruins of a collapsed civilization, a higher being highlights the unsustainable trajectory and contradictions of an ego-driven society.

Bearing Witness
Jun Bae, 5 min.
An audiovisual tone poem that encourages us to re-examine the memories that ultimately define our identity.

Down at Dusk 
Kat Cory Touschner, 5 min.
A natural landscape is transformed into the abstract in a visual exploration of the Zen Buddhist concept of ox herding.

Egg 
Brandon Joseph Eckert, 3 min.
Six greasers and an egg — the possibilities are endless.

Latido de Corazón
Hadley Schnuck, 5 min.
A journey through Central Havana to the percussive sound of “Song to Elegua,” the Santería deity who unites the earthly and the divine.

Lester Leaps In 
Mike Steinberg, 30 min.
At a lumber mill in 1970s Montana, a middle manager struggles to produce a safety film.

Seed the Change 
Meridith Mckinley, Brad Witte & Jessica R. Witte, 4 min.
A 400-foot-long drawing made of birdseed is created over the course of a day on the riverfront below the Arch.

Story 1: Scenes 1-9 
Zlatko Cosic, 5 min.
A multi-narrative experience in nine scenes.

Summer Louis 
Davey Rocco, 5 min.
A meandering visual exercise of nature’s interaction with man-made structures.

Switching Gears 
Rebecca Clayton, 8 min.
A mechanic seeks solace following the death of her father by finally completing his last project: fixing up an antique car.

The Terrifying Jellyfish: A Tj Hughes Biography 
Ryan Fitzgerald, 4 min.
A portrait of up-and-coming digital artist Tj Hughes.

Turntable
Wyatt Weed, 4 min.
A music video for the original song “Turntable” by St. Louis artist Abigail Stahlschmidt.

An Uber Tale 
Lynelle White, 8 min.
Two strangers, a guy and girl, share an Uber. Although there’s clearly an attraction between them, neither is able to initiate conversation, so they ride on. And on. And on.