Behind the Curtain: Film

Photograph by Samantha Dittmann

So the St. Louis International Film Festival (which collapses down to a spiffy acronym—SLIFF) advertises the fact that it screens more than 250 films each fall. What they don’t mention is that in order to assemble that program, Cinema St. Louis’ three full-time employees—executive director Cliff Froehlich, artistic director Chris Clark, and operations supervisor Brian Spath—must vet about four times as many films during the program selection process.

“We start watching movies in January, when Sundance opens the film-festival season,” Clark says. Froehlich headed to Park City, Utah, this year, and Clark packed off to the far more seasonable Palm Springs, Calif. “Both of those are glamorous destinations in their own special way, but they are also two of the best film festivals in the United States,” he notes, adding Palm Springs is especially strong with international films, an emphasis SLIFF shares: “Where else could I see the best films from Uzbekistan?”

SLIFF’s submissions begin rolling in March 1, including those intended for CSL’s St. Louis Filmmaker’s Showcase in July (when they cut off submissions). They receive 1,200 submissions annually (insert cartoon exclamation point here), and though there’s some overlap, Clark basically oversees narrative features, Froehlich curates docs, and Spath screens the shorts. Of that total, 150 to 200 are narrative features. “We may only include ultimately six or seven out of 150 under consideration,” Froehlich says, “so that’s the toughest hurdle.” On the other hand, SLIFF played 44 out of the 130 documentaries they received in ’08. “Then, when it comes to shorts, we received about 1,000, of which a good number ended up playing—about 130,” Froehlich says. Once films are chosen, the staff arranges and rearranges colored sticky notes (each neatly labeled with a title) on a wall-sized whiteboard, as they work toward the final schedule. “It’s elaborate,” Clark chuckles. And increasingly so, as the festival week approaches: Not only must this three-man staff make sure that proper screening equipment shows up at six different venues, they also oversee audience ballots, PR, volunteer coordination, trips to the airport to pick up filmmakers, parties, and a free Cinema for Students sidebar that offers daily screenings. “Once you plunge into the festival itself, it just becomes a whirlwind of activity,” Froehlich says. “We have to spread ourselves pretty thin…we really don’t get any rest. It’s exhilarating—and exhausting.”