Cinema St. Louis Announces Major Gift from Jane M. and Bruce P. Robert Charitable Foundation

ST. LOUIS - Nov. 1, 2014 - PRLog -- Cinema St. Louis (CSL), the nonprofit that presents the St. Louis International Film Festival (SLIFF) and a slate of other annual film events, has received a gift of $50,000 from the Jane M. and Bruce P. Robert Charitable Foundation. The gift is the largest one-time donation that CSL has received in its 23-year history.

Jane and Bruce Robert are longtime advocates for the French language and culture, and the foundation’s gift supports CSL’s annual French offerings, which will now be known as the Robert Classic French Film Festival (held in the spring) and the Robert French and French-Language Focus at SLIFF (held in November).

Jane – who’s served as a Cinema St. Louis board member since 2011 – holds degrees in French literature and language from both Webster University and the University of Missouri, and studied at Paris’ Sorbonne. She’s taught French at all levels, from elementary to university. Jane serves as Présidente Honoraire of Renaissance Française – USA, a national delegation charged by Renaissance Française in France with the mission of encouraging the appreciation of French language and cultures. She also serves on the Board of Trustees of Webster University and on Webster U.’s Swiss Foundation in Geneva. Among the many honors she’s received, Jane was awarded the French government’s highest distinction in 2007 – the French Legion of Honor.

Bruce was a practicing attorney in St. Louis from 1973-87 and worked for Siegel-Robert Inc., a multinational manufacturing corporation, where he served as executive vice-president from 1988-91 and president from 1992-95. Bruce has supported his wife’s Francophile projects for more than 40 years.

Together, Jane and Bruce sponsored the first permanent chair at Webster University: the Jane and Bruce Robert Chair of French and Francophone Studies. This chair was created with the intention of creating stability for French language learning at Webster and to offer opportunities to members of the St. Louis community to speak French and to refresh their knowledge of Francophone cultures worldwide. The university’s Centre Francophone serves as the hub of that activity.

Cinema St. Louis’ 23rd Annual Whitaker St. Louis International Film Festival takes place Nov. 13-23 at multiple locations. For complete information, visit www.cinemastlouis.org.