Jacky is trying to get dressed to meet their mother one late afternoon.
U.S
Directed by Kevin J. Nettles
Two guys meet for a hookup but find something more.
Directed by Cam Owen
After moving from small-town Louisiana to New Orleans, Ted navigates the city using a dating app.
Directed by Safi Jafri
On a midnight bus, a boy is just trying to catch some sleep, but the man who boards after him has more…
Directed by Kevin Mead
After the recent death of their parents, a passionate Italian-American family reunites to enjoy their…
Directed by Craig Bettendorf
An exploration of the ways in which an underappreciated Yale professor — the late John Boswell — helped…
Directed by Kasey O’Brien
One person’s questioning throws a young couple into a state of crisis.
Directed by Max Masri & Chelsea Eng
LGBTQ pride, liberated tango partnering, and transformation play out against the humid pulse of a New York…
Directed by Anna Kuperberg
Faced with a fast and aggressive cancer, Carla Jean Johnson accepts her diagnosis with clarity and grace,…
Directed by Jason Christ
On Oct. 31, 2020, against the backdrop of a global pandemic, a man reflects on his deep love for his…
Directed by Dan Mirvish
This engaging 1970s-era dark-comedy thriller about the Watergate conspiracy poses an intriguing question:…
Directed by Isidore Bethel & Francis Leplay
When his older boyfriend loses interest in him, filmmaker Isidore Bethel looks for a way forward.…
Directed by Nate Myers
One fateful Saturday, Zelzah (Adrienne Rose White) receives an unexpected call from her ex, Sazerac (Chris…
Directed by Josh Guffey
After a rookie cop is killed in a drug bust gone wrong, his veteran partner (Chris Halverson) is put on…
Directed by Joshua Altman & Bing Liu
Chicago gun violence has made national headlines for decades. While the city responds with aggressive…
Directed by Eric Bricker
During these locked-down pandemic times, we all can appreciate an ode to the open road, and “Alumination”…
Directed by John J. Valadez
Brothers Manuel and Valente Valenzuela both volunteered and fought in Vietnam. Now, 50 years later, they…
Directed by Andrew & Jon Erwin
“American Underdog,” SLIFF's Centerpiece Event, tells the…
Directed by Iman Zawahry
Welcome to America: Where dreams come true … ish. A provocative spin on the traditional romantic comedy, “…
Directed by Natalie Pattillo & Daniel A. Nelson
“And So I Stayed” offers a moving profile of three domestic-violence survivors who served steep prison…
Directed by Margaret Byrne
A stellar documentary from SLIFF alum Margaret Byrne (“Raising Bertie”), “Any Given Day” follows a trio of…
Directed by Libby Spears
“The Art of Rebellion” follows blunt, sarcastic, but ultimately lovable Lydia Emily — an LA-based street…
Directed by Leanna Kaiser
Filmed over the course of four years in 16mm, the film offers a portrait of a young woman and her two sons…
Directed by Kaitlin Gant
A girl meets her dream “bad boy” at the park: a boy who’s bad at everything he does.
Directed by Joseph Tronicek & Stephen V. Tronicek
An experimentally edited short film recounts a young woman’s visit to an inpatient psychiatrist.
Directed by Jessica Hentoff
This unique and hopeful documentary gives the pandemic perspective of students, staff, and alumni from…
Directed by Debi Bradshaw & Sean Bradshaw
A pet-store cashier reveals a special talent to a customer who would be happier just buying his cat food…
Directed by Patrick Delhougne
A basketball player shooting hoops experiences that ethereal, hypnotic, hyper-focused, ecstatic state that…
Directed by Ryan M. Kneezle
A vagrant is held captive by a lonely girl living in the woods dressed as a bear.
Directed by Andy Cohen & Gaylen Ross
“Beijing Spring” tells a story about underground filmmaking, radical art, and censorship that’s…
Directed by Susan Hagedorn
Some 50 years before BLM and March for Our Lives — before computers, cell phones, and Facebook — priests…
Directed by Sharee Silerio
This candid short doc features interviews with Black women who have experienced or are currently coping…
Directed by Lacey “G Souldier” Turner
In a story about the daily trials and tribulations that Black men face, Demarcus experiences an epically…
Directed by Tim M. Sullivan
A door appears in darkness as your final distorted visions blink before you.
Directed by Judith Ehrlich
As the war in Vietnam raged, one of the largest and most successful youth-led resistance movements in…
Directed by Levan Koguashvili
“Brighton 4th” — which won a trio of awards at the Tribeca Film Festival, including best international…
Directed by Mike Mills
Radio journalist Johnny (Oscar® winner Joaquin Phoenix) and his young nephew forge a tenuous but…
Directed by Michael Winingham
Two women parked in a public garage are confronted by a violent stranger who holds them hostage in their…
Directed by Caleb Michael Johnson
One of the oddest and darkest films screened at QFest to date, “The Carnivores” features a young lesbian…
Directed by Alexandria Ferguson
After secretly following her older brother and his friends to an abandoned neighborhood, Myra encounters a…
Directed by Josef Kubota Wladyka
In this gripping revenge thriller — executive-produced by Darren Aronofsky (“The Wrestler,” “Black Swan…
Directed by Dan Rule
A video collage — both pastoral and unsettling — fabricated from YouTube videos, online photos, nature…
Directed by Christian Wood
An amoral and sick homeless man finds himself trapped inside an abandoned school while a deadly virus…
Directed by John Maggio
“A Choice of Weapons: Inspired by Gordon Parks” explores the power of images in advancing racial, economic…
Directed by Rex Miller & Sam Pollard
“Citizen Ashe” is the story of sports legend and social activist Arthur Ashe. Known to most by his stellar…
Directed by Jake DeNunzio & Eby Strauss-Barrett
Examine the rare species “blanca homo sapitus” and discover just what it is that makes their home so ...…
Directed by Stanley Kubrick
Cinema St. Louis continues its year-long Golden Anniversaries series during SLIFF by featuring a half-…
Directed by Eric Miranda
Breaking the never-ending everyday cycle just requires stopping ... and taking a breath.
Directed by Rachel Meister
A girl who died young tries to revisit the land of the living to communicate with her brother.
Directed by James Hess
After a young man comes out as gay to his grandparents, they struggle to accept him.
Directed by Dominic Regazzi
A student’s OCD takes a new form as it torments his night.
Directed by Ann Hu
How far would a mother go to change her child’s fate? When Lan (Zhu Zhu, “Cloud Atlas”) learns that her 9-…
Directed by Tanner Richard Craft
A young man who believes he’s on the brink of discovering a global conspiracy tries to warn his friend of…
Directed by Zora Iman Crews & Alec Tibaldi
Daphne Wilco, actor and self-empowered social-justice warrior, wreaks havoc on a production of Euripides…
Directed by Dustin Hawkins
A young man struggling with several mental handicaps considers suicide and meets a demon who gives him a…
Directed by Mando Franco
An entity possesses a television, making the evil characters aware of a sleeping viewer.
Directed by Andrew Frechette
It’s Chuck’s first Christmas and, for an ornament, that can be a very daunting time.
Directed by Paula Rhodes
We all hold some responsibility for our nation’s ever-increasing lack of polite, respectful discourse. For…
Directed by Kelly Jimenez
An animated film that deals with aspects of resilience by creating a parallel between the world of…
Directed by Matt Kujath
An unconfident duck participates in the biggest racing event of the year.
Directed by Steven Spielberg
Cinema St. Louis continues its year-long Golden Anniversaries series during SLIFF by featuring a half-…
Directed by Erin Greenwell
When Mary’s ears won’t stop ringing, she buys an ear-cleaning kit to investigate.
Directed by Mo Scarpelli
“El Father Plays Himself” chronicles expat filmmaker Jorge Thielen Armand’s return to Venezuela to make a…
Directed by Michael Pearce
In “Encounter” — which debuted at the Telluride and Toronto film festivals — former Marine Malik Khan (…
Directed by Lacey “G Souldier” Turner
Jason wakes up and desperately tries to run away from something.
Directed by Sabrina Urban
Image-manipulated nature footage is set to a soundtrack of two kids having a conversation.
Directed by Cherie Sampson
The first 72 hours after a breast-cancer diagnosis is depicted through a montage of sound juxtaposed with…
Directed by Gracie Simmonds
After the loss of her child, a grieving woman does what it takes to be reunited with her daughter.
Directed by Daniel Allen & Adam Huber
In the middle of a pandemic, an encounter between a man and his strange neighbor quickly becomes tense.…
Directed by Stephen Province
Two men with no reason to fight each other are stuck in a fighting game.
Directed by Jerod Welker
The connection of a St. Louis musician’s ambient sound to the ambiance of the filmmaker’s home.
Directed by Mobolaji Olambiwonnu
How does a father find purpose in pain? In 2014, Michael Brown Sr.’s son was killed by White police…
Directed by Timothy Breitbach
"The Final 19" tells the harrowing true story of Sgt. Dan Hefel, one of the final 19 prisoners of war to…
Directed by Timothy Breitbach
The film tells the harrowing true story of Sgt. Dan Hefel, one of the final 19 prisoners of war to come…
Directed by Christopher Chambers
“A Fire Within” documents a U.S. court case brought by a trio of Ethiopian women against the man who…
Directed by Brandon Kramer
“The First Step” — directed by SLIFF alum Brandon Kramer (“City of Trees”) — explores the divisions within…
Directed by Matthew Heineman
Directed by Oscar-nominated and Emmy-winning filmmaker Matthew Heineman (“Cartel Land,” “City of Ghosts…
Directed by Jonas Poher Rasmussen
“Flee” — winner of Sundance’s Grand Jury Prize in the World Cinema Documentary section — tells the story…
Directed by Gordon Quinn & Leslie Simmer
Co-directed by SLIFF Lifetime Achievement Award winner Gordon Quinn, “For the Left Hand” profiles Norman…
Directed by Justin May
A night of reckless choices leaves Nate lost in a vast city, and his journey home teaches him to be…
Directed by William Friedkin
Cinema St. Louis continues its year-long Golden Anniversaries series during SLIFF by featuring a half-…
Directed by Pat McGee
Running in the 2020 Democratic primary for the U.S. Senate seat held by Mitch McConnell, Charles Booker…
Directed by Cory Byers
In fall 2020, the SIUE Department of Theater and Dance had to get creative in order to perform their fall…
Directed by Patrick Lawrence
“There's something strange in the neighborhood” when an underfunded team of paranormal exterminators is…
Directed by Lisa Donato
“Gossamer Folds,” which beautifully demonstrates that hatred is a learned experience and that we can…
Directed by Joshua Mullins
A look at the brother/sister duo who run an eclectic bookstore on Cherokee Street.
Directed by Paul Hibbard
While his wife and newborn child are away, a college film professor is confronted at his house by the…
Directed by Yc-Bey
After a man boastfully flashes a bunch of cash on social media, his wife is kidnapped for ransom, but in…
Directed by Tommy Haines
In Minnesota’s unforgiving North Country, a tradition of grit has been forged in the mines and on the ice…
Directed by Paul Schankman
Even if you live in St. Louis, you’ve probably never heard of the Battle of St. Louis, but some historians…
Directed by Stephen Karam
A piercingly funny and haunting debut film from writer/director Stephen Karam, “The Humans” explores the…
Directed by Daniel E. Williams
Jacqueline Williams, a former resident of Kinloch — the first and largest all-black incorporated city in…
Directed by John Clayton Doyle
An offbeat, heartwarming portrait of the world’s least likely rock star, this documentary-narrative hybrid…
Directed by Larry Foley
Although this film is set in the late 19th century, the issues it addresses — gun violence, racial strife…
Directed by Paige Feldman
This short-form comedy anthology explores the moments after sex — a time when being emotionally stripped…
Directed by Benjamin Schwartz
“Into the Light” profiles painter Chuck Connelly, who received serious critical and commercial attention…
Directed by T.J. Parsell
Growing up gay in the South is hard enough, but to be an openly gay woman in country music is nearly…
Directed by Luke Davis
An iteration of an astronaut struggles with his past while stranded on a deserted planet with only his…
Directed by Lacey “G Souldier” Turner
Uncle Wyatt, who teaches at an inner-city school, walks in on his family having an unpleasant conversation…
Directed by Jay Craven
“Jack London’s Martin Eden” is based on the writer’s autobiographical novel about a poor and unschooled…
Directed by Clint Bentley
In Clint Bentley’s “Jockey” — which premiered at this year’s Sundance Film Festival — an aging rider (…
Directed by Julie Cohen & Betsy West
“Julia” — directed by Julie Cohen and Betty West, who also helmed the Oscar-nominated “RBG” — brings to…
Directed by Taylor Yocom
Animations of collages of flowers in vases are juxtaposed with video footage of flowers.
Directed by Jeff Heinle
This documentary revisits a 1904 Missouri Supreme Court decision about a contested will that took…
Directed by William T. Horner & Stacey Woelfel
A moving biopic of Pedro Zamora, “Keep the Cameras Rolling” — co-directed by Mizzou professors William T…
Directed by Posy Dixon
As a sci-fi-obsessed woman living in near isolation, Beverly Glenn-Copeland wrote and self-released the…
Directed by Scott L. Wisdom
After an attack by raving cannibals, an amputee must retell his story to two wary detectives.
Directed by Stephen Werner
Music composed by Stephen Werner — performed by the Pyroclastic Flow Orchestra — accompanies his art in…
Directed by Reinaldo Marcus Green
“King Richard,” which stars two-time Oscar…
Directed by Alana Marie
Kinloch is a town on life support, with fewer than 200 citizens still residing in the area, a budget…
Directed by Lea Konczal
In a small Missouri town, one man strives to keep an ancient French tradition alive.
Directed by Carolina Diz & Brittany Zeinstra
A girl is determined to go to any extreme to catch the legendary Lake Loch Pond Monster, only to realize…
Directed by Ashley Seering
In the midst of a global pandemic, a very paranoid vampire orders contactless food delivery.
Directed by Chris Lawing
A disgraced journalist flees to a small Midwestern town to rebuild her life but deadly corruption pursues…
Directed by Marion Hill
In “Ma Belle, My Beauty” — which premiered at Sundance — newlywed musicians Bertie and Fred are adjusting…
Directed by Cody Stokes
“Magic in the Mountains” tells the remarkable underdog story of how Squaw Valley, a little-known ski area…
Directed by Jessica Adkins
A stop-motion video made out of construction paper follows a bee through the outdoors and indoors.
Directed by Zia Nizami
A profile of St. Louis activist Maxi Glamour, a nonbinary drag artist and self-described “Demon Queen of…
Directed by Paul Michael Angell
“Medicine Man” recounts the incredible life story of Stan Brock, a British-born Amazonian cowboy turned U.…
Directed by Jeff Bemiss & Lisa Molomot
“Missing in Brooks County” provides a clear-eyed, heartbreaking look at the deadly cost of the U.S.’s…
Directed by Peggy Callahan & Louie Psihoyos
“Mission: Joy” — co-directed by Oscar winner Louie Psihoyos (“The Cove”) and Peggy Callahan — provides…
Directed by Joshua James Johnson & Tim Maupin
In a near-future world ravaged by climate change, a family takes a trip to an important historical…
Directed by Therese Shechter
In “My So-Called Selfish Life,” filmmaker Therese Shechter examines an oft-undiscussed social taboo: women…
Directed by Wyatt Weed
Two astronauts intercept an asteroid on a collision course with Earth but discover that it may not be an…
Directed by CJ Hunt
Smart, funny, and thoughtful about issues of race in America, “The Neutral Ground” follows comedian and “…
Directed by Nathan Sutton
In “New Year” — directed by former St. Louisan Nathan Sutton — unhappily married couple Benjamin and…
Directed by Angelo Madsen Minax
After the death of his infant niece, filmmaker Angelo Madsen Minax returns to his rural Michigan hometown…
Directed by Gary Lobstein
A sugary-sweet short about a hook-up that goes horribly wrong.
Directed by Lauren Hadaway
When Alex Dall (Isabelle Fuhrman, “Orphan”), a queer college freshman, joins her university’s rowing team…
Directed by Leah Galant & Maya Cueva
Although set in McAllen, at Texas’ southern tip in the Rio Grande Valley, the film doesn’t deal with…
Directed by Tim Reischauer
A decorated Navy SEAL and a loving husband and father, Bradley battles the demons of PTSD and addiction,…
Directed by Tim Reischauer
A decorated Navy SEAL and a loving husband and father, Bradley battles the demons of PTSD and addiction,…
Directed by Eric Daniel Metzgar
A hybrid of animation and live action, “A Once and Future Peace” provides an engrossing exploration of…
Directed by Cory Byers
A guy meets a girl on a blind date and makes plans to attend a costume party, but what is her costume…
Directed by Aaron Hosé
“One Pint at a Time” — a feature expansion of the short “A Fresh Perspective,” which screened at last year…
Directed by Zlatko Cosic
A minimal exploration of society’s harm to itself and the planet.
Directed by Michael Seligman & Jennifer Tiexiera
A box of letters, held in secret for nearly 60 years, ignites a five-year exploration into a part of LGBTQ…
Directed by Justin Blake Crum
In “Papaw Land,” a coming-of-age drama set in rural Arkansas, 17-year-old Matthew is slipping into a cycle…
Directed by Eby Strauss-Barrett
An AI-generated tale of a handsome man going on a date with a woman he just met.
Directed by Sydney Russell
In a small suburb of St. Louis, a local coffee shop and its faithful regulars attempt to keep music and…
Directed by Daniel Neville
Tracy Spitznagle, a Washington University professor of physical therapy, travels to Mekelle, Ethiopia,…
Directed by James Bidgood (as Anonymous)
This year’s Q Classic, “Pink Narcissus” — which is celebrating its 50th anniversary — is a breathtaking…
Directed by Scott Wisdom
A recent divorcé invites a young prostitute to his home with an odd request.
Directed by Jen Sutherland
An audiovisual poetry adaptation.
Directed by Ashley Seering
An exploration of the history and modern-day importance of postcards.
Directed by Robert Greene
In “Procession,” six men from Kansas City, Mo. — all survivors of childhood sexual assault at the hands of…
Directed by Graham Kolbeins
Trailblazing artists, activists, and everyday people from across the spectrum of gender and sexuality defy…
Directed by Stacey White
Kevin, who has dealt with mental illness all his life, makes a decision that will change his life forever…
Directed by Thomas Malkowicz
Working with Washington University colleague Sarah Baitzel, an assistant professor of archeology, climate…
Directed by Alexander Liu
Filmmaker Alex Liu, a 36-year-old gay man who grew up with years of sexual shame, hits the road to learn…
Directed by Hunter Hopewell
Instead of finding a “real” job, as his parents lovingly put it, stop-motion animator Keller attempts to…
Directed by Abraham Lim
SLIFF viewers with long memories will recall Abraham Lim’s first work as a director, “Roads and Bridges,”…
Directed by Joseph Tronicek & Stephen V. Tronicek
Two “fixers” for a fascist government go through a day in the life.
Directed by Gilda Sheppard
“Since I Been Down” follows a group of prisoners as they break free from their fate and create a model of…
Directed by Van Maximilian Carlson
Former New Filmmakers Forum winner Van Maximilian Carlson (2019’s “Princess of the Row”) returns to SLIFF…
Directed by Ben Manhanke
Guided by a strange dream, a young man believes he’s found a way to bring the dead back to life.
Directed by Pernille Rose Groenkjaer
“Solutions” offers important insight into the visions and concrete ideas that will pave the way for…
Directed by Michelle Davidson
Ten-year-old Bella must relearn how to tap-dance when she loses her hearing weeks before her team’s…
Directed by Ivaylo Getov & Jeremy Ungar
In 2017, the Vocal Vidas, an all-female Cuban quartet, were invited to perform their first show in America…
Directed by Melvin van Peebles
Melvin Van Peebles’s edgy, angsty, romantic first feature could never have been made in America. Unable to…
Directed by Billy Wilder
As a complement to SLIFF’s Tribute to Mary Strauss, the fest offers a free screening of one of Mary’s…
Directed by Nicholas Rousseau
An amateur hockey player who lives with the guilt of throwing an important game in his youth wrestles with…
Directed by George Thomas Dixon
In this trilogy of short films, 8-year-old writer, director, and actor George Thomas Dixon stars as Super…
Directed by Olivia Peace
In this queer coming-of-age dramedy, two girlfriends attend a “Teen Talk-back” after the funeral service…
Directed by Damien D. Smith
“Target: St. Louis Vol. 1” serves as a valuable history lesson with sadly continuing relevance. The film…
Directed by Emma Stoltzfus
An introduction to the Orphan Train Movement through the experience of one train rider, this film is shot…
Directed by Tim M. Sullivan
An exploration of breed-specific legislation (BSL) and how it unfairly discriminates against certain…
Directed by Michael Dahl & Avery Meier
After a frightening encounter with a stranger, a teenage boy is plagued with nightmares of a malicious…
Directed by Mason Beck
A therapist helps his patient through a childhood trauma similar to one he experienced.
Directed by Merry May Ma
Colin Burnett — a knowledgeable, witty, and passionate film scholar at Washington University — recounts…
Directed by Adam Flowers
Two professional burglars accept what they are told is an easy job but soon learn it will be anything but…
Directed by Masahiro Ishizuka
Teenage Josh lives in a world where all people have to compete in a foot race to earn the chance to have a…
Directed by Stacey Nation
A man who abandoned his family and the small town where he grew up returns to face an uncertain outcome.…
Directed by Aliki Raisis
Trying to impress her boss, Dana is caught illegally moving her ball by her incompetent caddy, who then…
Directed by Pamela Tanner Boll & Lindsay Richardson
Climate change is huge, scary, and highly politicized, and the relentless bad news can prove overwhelming…
Directed by Zlatko Cosic
A big firework of bright colors — an ebullient young love — soars through a sunrise sky, teetering on the…
Directed by Max Lowe
On Oct. 5, 1999, legendary climber Alex Lowe was tragically lost in a deadly avalanche on the Himalayan…
Directed by Debbie Lum
“Try Harder!” offers an engaging portrait of five young adults as they navigate a quintessential rite of…
Directed by Deborah Riley Draper
In “Twenty Pearls” — deftly narrated by Phylicia Rashad — two-time SLIFF alum Deborah Riley Draper (“…
Directed by Lacey “G Souldier” Turner
A man stands on the corner and sings “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” for mysterious reasons.
Directed by Monte Hellman
Cinema St. Louis continues its year-long Golden Anniversaries series during SLIFF by featuring a half-…
Directed by Nate Carroll
A party-giver’s attempt to make salsa is thwarted by bell peppers spawned by an agrochemical corporation’s…
Directed by Dagmawi Abebe, Victor Alonso-Berbel, Roy Arwas, Hannah Bang, Christopher Beaton, Agazi Desta, Tiffany Kontoyiannis, Zoe Salnave, Ernesto Sandoval & Sabina Vajraca
Based on true events surrounding the Negro Theatre Unit’s revolutionary 1936 production of “Macbeth,” “…
Directed by Isabel del Rosal
As Amber (Devin Dunne Cannon) braves life after divorce, the young mother must challenge herself to take…
Directed by Alana Waksman
When 22-year-old Rae, a descendant of Holocaust survivors, is targeted by neo-Nazis in Billings, Mont.,…
Directed by Sydney Russell
A woman becomes obsessed with getting her teenage son into an Ivy League school and falls down a rabbit…
Directed by Noel Fortman
A girl copes with the loss of her mother through baking.
Directed by Brad Lichtenstein
“When Claude Got Shot” follows the multi-year struggles of Claude Motley, a non-traditional-age Black law…
Directed by Alan Griswold
Shot in St. Louis in 1995 and lost in a move to Los Angeles two years later, this non-narrative eulogy is…
Directed by Alex Fuegner
A mockumentary about the lives of three nannies and the kids they look after.
Directed by Emily Kunstler & Sarah Kunstler
Directed by Sarah and Emily Kunstler — who previously helmed the well-received “William Kunstler:…
Directed by Emma Bright & Bethany Clemens
An interpretation of a deep, dark, and intimate dream.
Directed by Mando Franco
A woman is hunted in the snowy woods by a masked killer dressed as Santa Claus.
Directed by Christi Cooper
An intelligent combination of civics lessons and environmentalism, Christi Cooper’s “Youth v. Gov” tells…
Directed by Thomas Verrette
“Zero Gravity” follows a diverse group of middle-school students from San Jose, Calif., who compete in a…
Directed by Van McElwee
A series of claps, each creating a new space, echoes through anonymous worlds.
