Cinema St. Louis Announces Lineup for its 28th Annual Whitaker St. Louis International Film Festival – Nov. 7th – 17th

By Tom Stockman | October 15, 2019

The 28th Annual Whitaker St. Louis International Film Festival (SLIFF) — held Nov. 7-17 — provides St. Louis filmgoers with the opportunity to view the finest in world cinema: international films, documentaries, American indies, and shorts that can only be seen on the big screen at the festival. SLIFF will screen 389 films: 81 narrative features, 63 documentary features, 227 shorts, and 18 film programs exclusive to the Cinema for Students program. The fest also will feature 12 special-event programs, including our closing-night awards presentation. This year’s festival has 63 countries represented.

SLIFF will present our usual array of fest buzz films and Oscar contenders, including “The Apollo,” “Atlantics,” “The Chambermaid,” “Clemency,” “Cunningham,” “A Faithful Man,” “Frankie,” “A Hidden Life,” “Just Mercy,” “The Kill Team,” “Little Joe,” “Marriage Story,” “Nomad,” “Olympic Dreams,” “Portrait of a Lady on Fire,” “Premature,” “The Report,” “The Rest,” “Seahorse,” “The Song of Names,” “Sorry We Missed You,” “Synonyms,” “A Tramway in Jerusalem,” “The Traitor,” “The Truth,” “The Two Popes,” “Waves,” “The Whistlers,” “The Wild Goose Lake,” and “Zombi Child.”

The festival will honor a trio of significant film figures with our annual awards:

• Josh Aronson and Brad Schiff with Charles Guggenheim Cinema St. Louis Awards
• Lisa Cortés with a Women in Film Award.

The festival will kick off  on Thursday, Nov. 7, with the local premiere of the much-lauded “Marriage Story,” starring Scarlett Johansson and Adam Driver, and directed by Noah Baumbach. A 6:30 PM reception precedes the film and features complimentary wine and Urban Chestnut beers.

As part of the fest’s ongoing response to the Ferguson uprising, SLIFF again will feature a major stream of programming entitled Race in America: The Black Experience and offer a fourth edition of Mean Streets: Viewing the Divided City Through the Lens of Film and Television, which addresses the persistent issue of segregation.

The fest schedule, ticket and venue information, and a complete list of films (with descriptions) are available at the Cinema St. Louis website (cinemastlouis.org).

For more information, the public should visit cinemastlouis.org or call 314-289-4150.

Program Overview

SLIFF’s stellar lineup features a constellation of cinema’s brightest lights (see the SLIFF section of the CSL website for full info):

• Major awards to significant filmmakers:

• Women in Film Award: producer and director Lisa Cortés
• Charles Guggenheim Cinema St. Louis Awards: director Josh Aronson and animator Brad Schiff

• Free events: SLIFF continues its tradition of offering a large selection of free events to maximize its outreach into the community and to make the festival affordable to all. This year, we offer 64 free events, which are detailed on our website. In addition, for the 16th year, we present the Georgia Frontiere Cinema for Students Program, which provides free screenings (often with filmmakers in attendance) to St. Louis-area schools. Films are offered both at our venues and for in-school presentation. Busing reimbursement is also available.
• Show-Me Cinema Showcase (films with St. Louis and Missouri roots or connections), including a special program focused on the much-praised short “St. Louis Superman.”
• Mean Streets: Viewing the Divided City Through the Lens of Film and Television: SLIFF offers a fourth edition of this program, which addresses one of the most persistent and vexing issues in urban studies: segregation.
• Race in America: 19 programs that address the black experience from multiple perspectives.
• Human Rights Showcase: A selection of 14 documentary programs focused on human-rights issues in the U.S. and the world.

• SLIFF/Kids Family Films, including four free programs.
• Festival award-winners and critically lauded international films.
• Well-regarded American indies.
• Nearly 230 shorts from around the globe, including free family and documentary-shorts programs and two selections of the best films from the St. Louis Filmmakers Showcase.
• Major documentaries, including 10 documentary-shorts programs.
• A strong selection of animation, including two dedicated animated-shorts programs.
• Revivals and restorations.
• The New Filmmakers Forum (NFF), a juried competition for first-time American-independent filmmakers, with all films accompanied by their directors.

Venues

• Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis, 3750 Washington Blvd.
• Cortex District’s Innovation Hall, 4220 Duncan Ave, No. 101
• Missouri History Museum’s Lee Auditorium, Forest Park, 5700 Lindell Blvd.
• Plaza Frontenac Cinema, Plaza Frontenac, Lindbergh Boulevard and Clayton Road
• St. Louis Public Library’s Central Library, 1301 Olive St.
• Stage at KDHX, 3524 Washington Blvd.
• Tivoli Theatre, 6350 Delmar Blvd.
• Washington University’s Brown Hall Auditorium,, Forsyth Boulevard and Chaplin Drive
• Webster University’s Sverdrup Complex’s Room 123, 6300 Big Bend Blvd.
• Webster University’s Webster Hall’s Winifred Moore Auditorium, 470 East Lockwood Ave.

Ticket Info

Ticket Prices

Individual tickets are $14 each or $10 for Cinema St. Louis members and students with current and valid ID, except for the following special events (discounts do not apply and passes are not accepted):

• Opening-Night Reception with Marriage Story $25
• The Rats and People Motion Picture Orchestra with Sherlock Jr. $20

In addition to paid shows, SLIFF offers 64 free programs.

Advance-Ticket Sales

Online and phone sales are limited to full-price tickets only; Cinema St. Louis member and student discounts can only be obtained in person because ID is required. 

• KDHX: Advance tickets for programs at this venue are for sale online through Brown Paper Tickets. In the “Search Events” box, enter either the name of the film or SLIFF. There is a service charge of approximately $1.69 per ticket. Print your receipt and present it at the box office to obtain tickets.
• Plaza Frontenac: Advance tickets for programs at this venue are for sale at the Plaza Frontenac box office. Box-office hours are 11 a.m.-7:30 p.m. Sunday-Thursday and 11 a.m.-9:30 p.m. Friday-Saturday. No phone sales. For tickets online, visit Landmark Theatres website. There is a $1.75-per-ticket service charge. Pick up your tickets in advance using your confirmation number or credit card, or show the e-mail confirmation with scannable barcode to the usher.
• Tivoli: Advance tickets for programs at this venue are for sale at the Tivoli box office. Box-office hours are 4-10 p.m. Monday-Thursday and noon-10 p.m. Friday-Sunday. No phone sales. For tickets online, visit Landmark Theatres website. There is a $1.75-per-ticket service charge. Pick up your tickets in advance using your confirmation number or credit card, or show the e-mail confirmation with scannable barcode to the usher. 
• Webster U./Moore: Advance tickets at this venue are for sale online through Brown Paper Tickets. In the “Search Events” box, enter either the name of the film or SLIFF. There is a service charge of approximately $1.69 per ticket. Print your receipt and present it at the box office.

Day-of-Show Ticket Sales

• KDHX, Plaza Frontenac, Tivoli, and Webster U. will open a half-hour before the first show.
• The free events offered at Contemporary Art Museum, Cortex’s Innovation Hall, KDHX, Missouri History Museum, St. Louis Public Library, Washington U., and Webster U. require no ticket. Admission is first come, first served on day of show.
• The free events offered at the Tivoli require a complimentary ticket that should be obtained at the box office on the day of show; advance tickets to free shows at the Tivoli can be obtained online, but a $1.76 service charge applies.

Festival Punch-Passes

• Festival Punch-Passes are available at two levels: 6-ticket pass for $75 or 10-ticket pass for $120. Festival Punch-Passes are not valid for the Opening-Night Reception with “Marriage Story” on Nov. 7 and the screening of “Sherlock Jr.” with the performance by the Rats & People Motion Picture Orchestra on Nov. 15.
• Festival Punch-Pass-holders are required to obtain a ticket for each film attended, either in advance or day of show; a hole will be punched in the pass for each ticket purchased.
• Festival Punch-Passes can be used to purchase multiple tickets for the same show and to obtain tickets for screenings at all venues.