On Nov. 13, the 23rd Annual Whitaker St. Louis International Film Festival (SLIFF) will begin. With showings all over the city, including some on our own campus, the festival offers a lot of excellent entertainment for all.

I have been fortunate enough to intern with Cinema St. Louis this semester, as it prepares for the festival. I have been able to see some of the efforts that go in to making a successful festival and better understand its importance for the city and our campus community.

In total, there are 389 films at this year’s festival, including narrative and documentary features and a plethora of shorts.

Films from 69 different countries will be shown, giving the viewers a chance to see features created by filmmakers around the world; some of these filmmakers will even be at the screenings. Films have been organized into different spotlights, such as human rights, children’s, international and Race in America: The Black Experience, to name a few.

While interning at Cinema St. Louis, I have been lucky enough to watch some of the documentary shorts that will be shown throughout the festival. A few of these shorts will be shown on our campus. Each SLU event will show a film or films concentrated on interfaith issues or human rights.

A human rights spotlight featuring four documentary shorts will be shown on Thursday, Nov. 20, in the Center for Global Citizenship. Films will include: “Broken Branches” (Israel), ”Journey of a Freedom Fighter” (Palestinian Territories/Spain), “Minerita” (Bolivia/Spain) and “Rainy Season” (Vietnam). More features and shorts will be screened on campus, throughout the festival, on Nov. 14-16, 19 and 21. Some of the documentary features are coupled with documentary shorts based upon similar themes. Overall, the films discuss themes of immigration, identity, local issues, race, unrest and culture. The proximity of these screenings is not the only element that is appealing for the SLU community; each of these events at the CGC is free to the public on a first come, first served basis.

Viewing these films allows us to learn more about current human rights and interfaith issues. We can each take away important messages from the powerful story that each filmmaker has chosen to share. Take a break from the stress of college life and gain more perspective on matters concerning the international community.
More information about these films, the many other films the festival has to offer and the other venues included in the festival are available on Cinema St. Louis’ webpage: http://cinemastlouis.org. Be sure to check in year round to stay up to date on cinema events in St. Louis.