This year marks the eighth year of the Cinema at Citygarden filmmaking competition, which has become a biennial St. Louis tradition. The goal is to present winning films that honor the natural beauty of the city while also allowing viewers to embrace the beauty of nature and foster a deeper connection to the world around them.
“I think, especially now with how big of a role video plays in social media and the way we interact with social media, [the competition] gives filmmakers both amateur and professional an opportunity to view nature and our relationship to nature through a medium that usually is utilized for escapism,” says Brian Spath, Cinema St. Louis’ operations and education director.
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Filmmakers were given creative reign with their submissions, the only parameters being a nature theme, ideally in connection to St. Louis, and an allotted run-time of five minutes or less. The judges selected three films from the 23 total submissions that they believe best encapsulate the spirit of the theme in the most creative and enthralling ways.
Citygarden is free of charge and open to the public every day of the year. Visitors have the opportunity to join in this unique experience and embark on a storytelling journey through the art of film. The videos will play on a loop from 5-10 p.m. daily through June 30, and will also be screened as part of the St. Louis Filmmakers Showcase (July 21-30).
First Place: Boundaries, directed by Tsering Wangmo
A graduate student pursuing her doctorate in anthropology at Washington University in St. Louis and graduate of NYU’s documentary film production program, Tsering Wangmo has been creating original films since 2018. Her interest in filmmaking stemmed from her experience with photojournalism as an undergraduate.
“For me, the journey started from wanting to tell stories, and then I had the chance to explore photography as an undergrad studying journalism,” she says. “From that exposure to visual media, I started slowly having interest in film.”
In her winning short-film, Boundaries, she created a thought-provoking video illustrating the concept of “exploring a desire to have an alternative life outside of the bounds of two political power forces.”
Wangmo is originally from a village in northern India and wanted to incorporate some aspects of her homeland into her piece. She says the inspiration for this film comes from her and her husband both growing up in India and never really feeling as if they belonged, but finding a sense of belonging through their connection with nature.
Wangmo’s filmmaking process began with the couple searching St. Louis for external pipes, which she says she found visually appealing. She also mentioned that homes receive some kind of services through these pipes, which gives a connection to the “home” theme.
Throughout the film, sequences are tied together through Wangmo’s voiceover. She also included a poem which resonated with her, placed over the final frames of the video.
Second Place: Belles of St. Louis, directed by Jessica R. Adkins
Using a lively backing soundtrack, Jessica R. Adkins created a whimsical, “psychedelic” video with only paper, cardstock, and an iPhone/iPad camera. The music showcased in the film is from her friend Kevin Buckley’s instrumental album, Big Spring, which she used to create the general concept, incorporating Buckley’s suggestions and drawing inspiration from the theme itself.
Sometimes she plans sequences, but she says this specific film was never fully storyboarded. She just “felt it out as [she] went.”
Adkins’ passion for filmmaking began when her band wanted to make a music video, but could not afford to pay someone to make one for them. She suggested they make their own utilizing the stop-motion animation technique, and it was a success.
“I hope people see it and think, I could do that. I could try to make a video like that.” Adkins says. “That’s kind of what inspired me, was seeing another stop-motion video and thinking, I could figure that out, and I did…People having materials at home that they can use knowing they don’t need expensive equipment or special training to make videos is a really cool thing; you can just kind of start, and you learn along the way.”
Adkins originally lived in Milwaukee and received her undergraduate degree from Marquette University in 2011. After graduating with her masters in 2014, she moved to St. Louis to pursue a Ph.D. at Saint Louis University. She began creating stop-motion films in 2019.
In the same year, Adkins competed in the Cinema at Citygarden film competition for the first time—her first time submitting to any film competition—and won second prize for her collaborative short-film with Shane Devine, Green Lemon Buggy.
Third Place: Lanes, directed by Joe Johnson
St. Louis native Joe Johnson is a graduate of Webster University and has earned a bachelor’s degree in film, television, and video production. He discovered his passion through his 11 years of still photography, from which he transitioned to creating films.
“I’ve always had an interest in telling stories and creating characters and worlds, and I kind of saw that as more of a dream goal,” Johnson says. “In 2017, I discovered a film called Who Killed Captain Alex, an action movie from Uganda, and I was inspired by these people who had very few resources, but made a film that, to me, is one of the most engaging things I’ve ever seen.”
Johnson created his film using just a Nikon D5300 camera and editing software. He drove around St. Louis, capturing aspects of the city that piqued his interest. The result was a video which, according to him, can be interpreted in many different ways.
His project, Lanes, “finds the beauty in an industrialized landscape,” he says. Johnson even draws a comparison to City Museum, saying that, though it is man-made, it still possesses that intricate beauty found in nature within its smaller details.
Originally, Johnson showed his film at the Webster University film festival in 2021, where his professor referred to it as a meditative experience. When people take the time to watch his film, he hopes it can serve as a way of escaping the stressors of life, if only for a brief moment.
