The 23rd Annual Whitaker St. Louis Filmmakers Showcase, running this year from July 21–30, features a wide-ranging program of the best work from local filmmakers. While last year saw the showcase make the transition back to in-person screenings after two years of being virtual, this year’s iteration takes full advantage of Cinema St. Louis’ new home at the Hi-Pointe Theatre. “This is Cinema St. Louis’ second-biggest event of the year, and it’s our first year presenting it in our new forever home at the Hi-Pointe Theatre,” says Chris Clark, artistic director of Cinema St. Louis. “We’re back in an actual movie theater, which the filmmakers love, and we have our own real estate to spread things out.”
While the slate of films may seem overwhelming at first, Clark wants to assure audiences that the majority of the 91 films in this year’s showcase are short subject films, playing in one of the 11 shorts programs, which run the gamut of narrative, documentary, animated, and experimental films. In addition to those shorts programs, the showcase also has four feature-length films, as well as three free masterclass sessions. “It may be surprising to some people just how deep the filmmaking community is here in St. Louis,” Clark says. “These are all quality pieces made professionally to tell great stories, so you won’t be disappointed by anything you see,”
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Here are some of the key feature films to keep on your radar throughout this year’s showcase:
Anthem: The Road to Redemption
In this documentary, director Payton Ware tracks the story of Anthem, a local rock ‘n’ roll cover band formed by students from Chaminade and DeSmet high schools in the late 1970s. While the band saw some success playing shows locally, Ware followed the band as they reunited more than four decades later to record an album and put on one more live show.
This St. Louis–set sci-fi thriller from director Doveed Linder follows four stories, all connected to a mysterious box that serves as a gateway to another dimension. Clark notes that while this film has been 11 years in the making, Linder’s first feature, Defiance, was also programmed as part of the very first St. Louis Filmmakers Showcase back in 2001.
From director Chris Robert Lawing, Penitentia centers on Alejandro “Ale” Villacaño, a young associate lawyer and former convict who strives to leave his past behind. But when Ale is roped into helping an old friend, he finds himself caught up in a case full of corruption, negligence, and abuse of power, which puts his urge to do the right thing and fight the good fight to the test.
This experimental black-and-white feature from director Tom V. Boyer follows musicians on the lam in a supernatural, Midwestern musical. Clark notes that this film feels a bit like a spiritual successor to the Coen Brothers’ O Brother Where Art Thou, and that it is programmed alongside three other experimental music video shorts.
For tickets and passes, visit cinemastlouis.org.
