St. Louis International Film Festival Wrap Up and Awards Announced

ST. LOUIS - Nov. 27, 2013 - PRLog -- The 22nd Annual Whitaker St. Louis International Film Festival (SLIFF) concluded its Nov. 14-24 run with a closing-night party and awards presentation on Nov. 24 at the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis. SLIFF attendance figures are still being gathered from venues and will be provided in a separate release when available.

The festival opened with a packed house for the St. Louis premiere of “We Always Lie to Strangers,” a documentary on Branson, Mo. Highlights of SLIFF included appearances by actor Will Forte (“SNL”) at the sold-out screening of
“Nebraska” on Nov. 15 and by Oscar®-winning writer/director Oliver Stone at a sold-out tribute program on November 22. Stone received a Lifetime Achievement Award, discussed his career, and screened his director’s cut of “JFK” on
the 50th anniversary of President John F. Kennedy’s assassination. Other prominent films featured in the festival included “August: Osage County,” “The Invisible Woman,” “Le Week-End,” “Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom,”
“One Chance,” “The Past,” and “Philomena.”

SLIFF screened 330 films: 75 narrative features, 63 documentary features, and 192 shorts. This year’s festival had 201 screenings/programs, with 54 countries represented. The fest hosted more than 150 filmmakers and related
guests.

In addition to the audience-choice and juried-competition awards noted below, SLIFF presented major filmmaker awards to Stone, Jon Jost (Lifetime Achievement Award), Arsen Anton Ostojic (Contemporary Cinema Award),
Nina Davenport (Women in Film Award), and AJ Schnack (Charles Guggenheim Cinema St. Louis Award).

For information on the jury members and the eligible films for the various competitions, visit the Awards section of the SLIFF Web site (www. cinemastlouis.org/awards).

Audience Choice Awards
Audience voting determined the winner of three awards from among the films in competition.
Leon Award for Best Documentary (named in honor of the late civic leader Leon Strauss): “Harlem Street Singer,” directed by Simeon Hutner
Best International Film Award: “Philomena,” directed by Stephen Frears
Best Film Award: “One Chance,” directed by David Frankel

Alliance of Women Film Journalists’ EDA Awards @ SLIFF
The Alliance of Women Film Journalists (AWFJ) supports work by and about women through the presentation of the annual EDA Awards and woman-oriented awards at outstanding film festivals. The EDAs are named in honor of AWFJ founder Jennifer Merin’s mother, Eda Reiss Merin, a stage, film, and television actress. At SLIFF, EDA Awards were presented in two feature categories: documentaries and narratives. SLIFF chose five films in each category, and AWFJ juries evaluated the films in competition and chose a winner.
Best Female-Directed Narrative Feature: “Watchtower,” directed by Pelin Esmer
Special Mention for Dramatic Excellence: “Three Worlds,” directed by Catherine Corsini
Best Female-Directed Documentary Feature: “Gideon’s Army,” directed by Dawn Porter
Special Mention for Documentary Excellence: “Uranium Drive-In,” directed by Suzan Beraza

Interfaith Awards
Juries give Interfaith Awards to both a documentary and a narrative, choosing from among 10 competition films (five in each category), which were selected for their artistic merit; contribution to the understanding of the human condition; and recognition of ethical, social, and spiritual values.
Best Documentary Feature: “Honor Diaries,” directed by Micah Smith
Best Narrative Feature: “The Jewish Cardinal,” directed by Ilan Duran Cohen
Honorable Mention, Narrative Feature: “Halima’s Path,” directed by Arsen Anton Ostojic

Midrash St. Louis Film Award
Midrash St. Louis (www.midrashstl.com) engages myriad aspects of American culture – hot topics, deep subjects, music, arts & film – and seeks to give and receive commentary on the subjects and issues that matter to people in St.
Louis and that form and shape our views and lives. The Midrash St. Louis Film Award celebrates St. Louis-related films of honesty and artistry that portray the need or the hope for reconciliation or redemption, believing these to be
among the most powerful and worthy themes to explore in film. Eligible work includes feature and short films largely shot in St. Louis or directed by persons with strong local ties.
Winner: “Forty-Seven Views of Leslie Laskey,” directed by David Wild ($500 cash prize)

New Filmmakers Forum Emerging Director Award (The Bobbie)
The New Filmmakers Forum (NFF) annually presents the Emerging Director Award, nicknamed the Bobbie. Five works by first-time feature filmmakers competed for the prize. The Bobbie is named in honor of Bobbie
Lautenschlager, who co-curated NFF until her death in 2012.
Winner: “This Is Where We Live,” directed by Marc Menchaca and Josh Barrett ($500 cash prize)

Shorts Awards
Two juries (documentary and narrative) chose the winners of seven awards from among the shorts in competition.  The SLIFF shorts competition is officially sanctioned by the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, making the winners in the Best of Fest, Best Animated Short, and Best Live-Action Short categories eligible to submit for Oscar® consideration.
Best of Fest: “The Boy with a Camera for a Face,” directed by Spencer Brown
Best Animated Short: “Junkyard,” directed by Hisko Hulsing
Best Documentary Short: “Not Anymore: A Story of Revolution,” directed by Matthew VanDyke
Special Jury Mention, Documentary Short: “The Children Next Door,” directed by Doug Block
Best International Short: “The Last Border,” directed by Daniel Butterworth
Best Live-Action Short: “Shanghai Strangers,” directed by Joan Chen
Best Local Short: “The Painter,” directed by Nate Townsend
Best Short Short (less than five minutes): “The Life of Death,” directed by Marsha Onderstijn

St. Louis Film Critics Association Joe Pollack Awards
In conjunction with the St. Louis Film Critics organization, SLIFF holds juried competitions for documentary and narrative features. The awards are named in honor of the late St. Louis Post-Dispatch critic Joe Pollack. The winners
were picked by two juries composed of five St. Louis film critics. SLIFF chose eight films to compete in each category.
Best Documentary Feature: “Blood Brother,” directed by Steve Hoover
Special Jury Mention, Documentary Feature: “The Pleasures of Being Out of Step,” directed by David Lewis
Best Narrative Feature: “Key of Life,” directed by Kenji Uchida