16th Annual AT&T St. Louis
International Film Festival
Features
Grace Is Gone
James Strouse, USA, 2006, 90 min.
Friday, Nov. 9, 7 p.m., Tivoli Theatre
There was a time when Stanley Phillips (John Cusack) could see his entire life clearly. His ultimate dream of a patriotic military-service career was cut short simply because of his poor eyesight. Now he’s serving customers at a home-supply store while his sergeant wife is fighting in Iraq. Equally as awkward at home as he is at work, he’s clumsily raising two adolescent daughters who miss their mother deeply. While barely tolerating his job and stumbling through parenting, he is abruptly faced with a life-altering tragedy concerning his wife. Desperate to delay telling the children and grasping to give them their last moments of innocence, they embark on a spontaneous road trip to Enchanted Gardens Theme Park. Stanley reveals a much softer side as they travel to their chosen destination, but the farther they drive, Stanley knows he must face the inevitable task of sharing the awful news, thereby changing their lives forever.
Audience Award and Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award at 2007 Sundance Film Festival; Critics Award at 2007 Deauville Film Festival
Sponsored by Jon Mendelson Realtors
The Gymnast
Ned Farr, USA, 2006, 96 min.
Wednesday, Nov. 14, 9:30 p.m., Tivoli Theatre
The talented Jane Hawkins was an impressive gymnast at the top of her game until a devastating injury ended her career. Now she pours the passion, strength, and discipline that once fueled her sport into maintaining both a tedious job as a massage therapist and a loveless marriage. A chance meeting sets Jane on a new path: performing a Cirque Du Soleil-style aerial act with a mysterious and beautiful dancer named Serena. Each of them is illuminated by the presence of the other, but there are distractions: Jane is distressed by her lack of children, while Serena is a closeted lesbian who tackles the inherent stereotypes with being an adopted Korean daughter of Jewish parents. As the stunning pair prepares to audition their act for a Las Vegas show, the gravitational pull between the two women becomes increasingly unavoidable.
Best American Indie at 2007 Cleveland International Film Festival; Audience Award for Outstanding First Narrative Feature and Grand Jury Award for Outstanding American Narrative Feature at 2006 LA Outfest
Honeydripper
John Sayles, USA, 2007, 122 min.
Thursday, Nov. 8, 7 p.m., Tivoli Theatre
In 1950s rural Alabama, it’s a make-or-break weekend for the Honeydripper Lounge and its owner, piano player Tyrone “Pine Top” Purvis (Danny Glover). Deep in debt, Tyrone is desperate to lure the young cotton pickers and Army-base recruits into his juke joint. Hoping to save the club, Tyrone announces that he has hired the famous electric-guitar player Guitar Sam for a special one-night-only gig. On the day of the show, however, the train arrives and Guitar Sam is nowhere to be found. Tyrone is forced to make a deal with the sheriff to release Sonny, a kid who claims he can play the guitar as well as Guitar Sam. “Honeydripper” features an all-star cast that includes Danny Glover, Charles S. Dutton, Lisa Gay Hamilton, Stacy Keach, Mary Steenburgen, and Sean Patrick Thomas, with appearances by such notable musicians as Keb’ Mo’. It also introduces a major new talent, Austin blues guitarist Gary Clark Jr., who makes his electrifying film debut as Sonny.
Director Sayles, producer Maggie Renzi and star Clark will attend. Sayles and Renzi will receive a Lifetime Achievement Award and participate in a career-spanning Q&A with LA Weekly film editor Scott Foundas.
Imitation
Federico Hidalgo, Canada, 2006, 87 min.
Monday, Nov. 12, 9:30 p.m., Plaza Frontenac
Wednesday, Nov. 14, 5 p.m., Plaza Frontenac
Teresa, an alluring Mexican woman, comes to Montreal in search of her husband, who had abandoned her in Mexico. In Montreal, she meets Fenton, a young man who falls in love with her. Fenton convinces Teresa to let him help her find her husband. In their pursuit, Teresa and Fenton crisscross Montreal, persuading a string of comical characters to reveal clues that will finally lead them to the wayward husband. In the end, Teresa must decide whether to reveal the painful secret that haunts her.
The Iron Horse
John Ford, USA, 1924, 133 min.
Friday, Nov. 16, 7 p.m., Saint Louis Art Museum
British silent-film historian Kevin Brownlow (“The Parade’s Gone By”) provides a new restoration of this silent masterpiece by acclaimed American director John Ford. Brandon, a surveyor, dreams of building a railway to the West, but Marsh, a contractor, is skeptical. Despite the men’s differences, their children, Davy Brandon and Miriam Marsh, play together. Brandon sets off with Davy to survey a route and discover a pass that will shave 200 miles off the expected distance. Years pass. It is 1862, and Lincoln signs the bill authorizing construction of the Union Pacific and Central Pacific railways. Marsh is now principal contractor, and Miriam is engaged to Jesson, the chief engineer. Crews of immigrants work to build the railway while resisting Indian attack. To finish on time and on a safer path, they need to shorten the route by 200 miles. Davy, now a Pony Express rider, recalls his father’s discovery and sets off to find the pass.
Organist Stan Kann will provide live musical accompaniment and noted film critic and historian Charles Barr will introduce and discuss the film.
Sponsored by Midwest Music and Washington University Film and Media Studies Department
Juno
Jason Reitman, USA, 2007, 96 min.
Wednesday, Nov. 14, 7 p.m., Tivoli Theatre
This hilarious new film by Jason Reitman (“Thank You for Smoking”) was the toast of both the Telluride and Toronto film festivals in September. Newcomer Ellen Page and rising star Michael Cera (“Arrested Development,” “Superbad”) are the focus of this quirky dark comedy about teen pregnancy and the unexpected consequences of using your heart to make important life choices. When 16-year-old Juno (Page) becomes “knocked up” by her nerdy best friend (Cera), she decides to keep the baby after a disastrous visit to an unkempt abortion clinic. She turns to her working-class parents and announces not only her pregnancy but also an unusual plan to give up the child for adoption. The smart, plucky, and independent girl soon enough makes peace with her family and the wealthy, attractive yuppie couple who have agreed to adopt the baby, but her well-meaning intentions and the bizarre plan quickly go awry.
Sponsored by Marcia Harris
Kilometre Zero
(Kilomètre zéro)
Hiner Saleem, Iraqi Kurdistan, 2005, 96 min.
Kurdish, Arabic, and French with English subtitles
Thursday, Nov. 15, 2:30 p.m., Plaza Frontenac
Saturday, Nov. 17, 2:30 p.m., Plaza Frontenac
“Kilometre Zero” tells a story of ethnic conflict between Kurds and Iraqis in the context of the war between Iraq and Iran in the 1980s. Set at a time when Kurds were conscripted to serve in the Iraqi army, where they were brutally abused as a despised minority in Saddam Hussein’s military, “Kilometre Zero” pairs a Kurdish soldier, under orders to return the body of a dead soldier to his family, with an Iraqi taxi driver who will drive them cross-country to the dead soldier’s home. Scenes between the men, in the close quarters of their truck, are interwoven with scenes of often-comic incompetence of Iraqi soldiers and officers.
Lovely by Surprise
Kirt Gunn, USA, 2006, 98 min.
Saturday, Nov. 10, 7:15 p.m., Tivoli Theatre
With a Charlie Kaufman-esque touch of structural innovation, this bittersweet comedy works on several levels at once. Marian Walker (Carrie Preston) is an angst-ridden writer with a case of writer’s block who is having significant challenges completing a book. For help, she turns to a former professor (Austin Pendleton) for advice, but his interest is not entirely professonal. A surreal but strangely resonant parallel world develops from the novel she’s trying to complete, in which two oddball brothers survive on milk aboard a grounded ship. Eventually, the lines between real and imagined become blurred, as her fictional protagonist enters the lives of two other characters, a father and daughter still coping with a death. Fascinatingly incisive about the suppression of personal trauma and its diversion into the creative process, this bittersweet film keeps revealing new complexities as it unfolds.
Director Gunn, a St. Louis native, will attend.
Special Jury Prize for New American Cinema at 2007 Seattle International Film Festival
Low and Behold
Zack Godshall, USA, 2007, 96 min.
Friday, Nov. 9, 9:30 p.m., Tivoli Theatre
Turner Stull, an uninspired young man trying to figure out what he wants to do with his life, arrives in Katrina-ravaged New Orleans to work as an insurance claims adjuster. Greeted by his uncle, a seasoned adjuster, he is quickly immersed into the routine: move fast, don’t get emotionally involved, and make a lot of money. But Turner, not prepared to deal with people who have lost everything, is totally overwhelmed. Turner’s lack of experience and uncertainty only makes things worse. In a moment of crisis, Turner agrees to help Nixon, a local man, find his lost dog. In exchange for Turner helping look for the lost dog, Nixon lends a hand with Turner’s insurance claims. As Turner and Nixon navigate their way through the storm-ravaged city, the people they visit and the stories they hear on their journey ultimately change the lives of both men.
Director Godshall will attend.
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