17th Annual St. Louis
International Film Festival
Nov. 13-23, 2008

Cinema St. Louis is now accepting entries for the 17th Annual St. Louis International Film Festival. The St. Louis International Film Festival (SLIFF) is one of the largest and highest-profile international film festivals in the Midwest. Now in its 17th year, SLIFF is presented by the nonprofit Cinema St. Louis, which also annually produces the locally focused St. Louis Filmmakers Showcase and the CinemaSpoke screenwriting competition. This year's event will be held Nov. 13-23 at the Tivoli Theatre, Plaza Frontenac Cinemas and Webster University. SLIFF showcases the best in cutting-edge features and shorts from around the globe. The majority of the films screened - many of them critically lauded award-winners - will receive their only St. Louis exposure at the festival. The 2007 fest featured more than 260 films in 112 programs: 66 features (including more than 43 international films), 24 documentary programs, and 171 shorts.

Filmmakers may submit their work for consideration via our longtime festival partner Withoutabox by clicking on the image link below.

You may also download a paper entry form by clicking (here).

SLIFF spotlights the finest filmmakers in the world, whether fresh talent, emerging artists largely unknown outside their native countries, or directors of long-established reputation. SLIFF prides itself on identifying up-and-coming filmmakers, but the fest also offers high-profile films that garner Oscar nominations. Programming is organized into thematic sidebars. Sidebars in 2007 included the Leon and Mary Strauss Documentary Sidebar; International Film Sidebar (with special focuses on Croatia, France, and China); Family Film Sidebar; Cinema for Students, presented by the St. Louis Rams; Anheuser-Busch African/African-American Sidebar; American Independent Sidebar; Hollywood Spotlight; Whitaker Foundation Cinema St. Louis Sidebar; Women in Film Sidebar; Vital Voice Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgendered Sidebar presented by Here! Films; AtomFilms Short Subject Sidebar; Animation Sidebar; Midwest Music Silent Film Sidebar; Art and Music Sidebar; Asian Sidebar; Eastern European Sidebar; Interfaith Sidebar; True/False Sidebar; Global Lens; and AFI Project: 20/20.

The juried InBaseline New Filmmakers Forum (NFF) annually features five movies by promising first-time directors, who accompany their work. Craig Brewer is NFF's most notable alum. His "The Poor & the Hungry" appeared at the 2002 SLIFF, and in 2005, Brewer's "Hustle & Flow" debuted at the Sundance Film Festival, receiving adulatory notices. In 2007, the NFF jury was headed by Scott Foundas, film editor for the LA Weekly and film critic for Variety. Previous NFF jury heads include Salon's Stephanie Zacharek and Charles Taylor, and New York Magazine's David Edelstein.

Prominent filmmakers add glamour and star power to SLIFF. Past honorees and guests include Oscar-winning actor Kevin Kline; four-time Oscar nominee Marsha Mason, legendary documentarians Ken Burns ("The Civil War," "Baseball," "Jazz"), Albert Maysles ("Gimme Shelter," "Grey Gardens"), and two-time Oscar nominee Alex Gibney ("Enron: Smartest Guys in the Room," "Taxi to the Dark Side"); the family of 12-time Oscar-nominated documentarian Charles Guggenheim; actor-comedian Cedric the Entertainer; Oscar-winning writer-director Bill Condon ("Chicago," "Kinsey"); actors Ruby Dee and Ossie Davis; director Terry Zwigoff ("Crumb," "Ghost World," "Bad Santa"); actor Tony Curtis; former Motion Picture Association of America president Jack Valenti; and writer-directors Bob Gale ("Back to the Future"), George Hickenlooper ("Factory Girl"), Ken Kwapis ("The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants"), and James Gunn ("Slither"), all native St. Louisans.

16th Annual AT&T St. Louis
International Film Festival

Festival Highlights


2007 SLIFF Awards

Audience Choice Awards
Best Feature: Juno directed by Jason Reitman
Best International Feature: Children of Glory directed by Krisztina Goda
Best Documentary: A Walk to Beautiful directed by Mary Olive Smith

Interfaith Awards
Best Documentary: A Walk to Beautiful directed by Mary Olive Smith
Best Feature: Getting Home directed by Yang Zhang

New Filmmakers Forum Award
Lovely by Surprise directed by Kirt Gunn

Short Subjects
Best of Fest: "Rabbit" by Run Wrake, UK
Best Live Action: "The Saddest Boy in the World" by Jamie Travis, Canada
Best Animated: "Yours Truly" by Osbert Parker, UK
Best International: "Tanghi Argentini" by Guido Thys, Belgium
Best Short Short: "The Job" by Jonathan Browning, USA
Best Local: "Actors" by Joe Leonard, USA

Gateway Film Critics Association Award
Best Feature: Diving Bell and the Butterfly directed by Julian Schnabel

Vital Voice LGBT Award
The Gymnast directed by Ned Farr

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