St. Louis International Film Festival

St. Louis, Missouri, United States, North America

04 - 14 Nov, 2021

Academy Award ® Qualifying

Keywords

fiction, Documentary, oscar qualifying, campuses, workshop

General Information

founded

1962

edition

29th

organizers

Chris Clark

NARRATIVE PROGRAMMER, ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

Cliff Froehlich

DOCUMENTARY PROGRAMMER, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Brian Spath

NARRATIVE SHORTS PROGRAMMER, OPERATIONS SUPERVISOR

Orlando Thompson

DOCUMENTARY SHORTS PROGRAMMER

Contact details

3547 Olive St.

St. LouisMissouri, United States 63103

sliff_submissions@cinemastlouis.org

314-289-4150

Web & social

Venues

Landmark's Tivoli Theatre 6350 Delmar Boulevard , St. Louis, Missouri United States 63130 Show me on the map

Landmark Plaza Frontenac 1701 South Lindbergh Boulevard , St. Louis, Missouri United States 63131 Show me on the map

Missouri History Museum 5700 Lindell Boulevard , St. Louis, Missouri United States 63112 Show me on the map

Contemporary Art Museum 3750 Washington Blvd, St. Louis, Missouri United States 63108 Show me on the map

Cortex District’s Innovation Hall 4220 Duncan Ave, St. Louis, Missouri United States 63110 Show me on the map

St. Louis Public Library 1301 Olive St., St. Louis, Missouri United States 63103 Show me on the map

Stage at KDHX 3524 Washington Boulevard‎, St. Louis, Missouri United States 63103 Show me on the map

Washington University’s Brown Hall Auditorium Centennial Greenway, St. Louis, Missouri United States 63105 Show me on the map

Webster U./Moore University’s Webster Hall, 470 East Lockwood Ave., Webster Groves, Missouri United States 63119 Show me on the map

Webster U./Sverdrup 470 E Lockwood Ave, Webster Groves, Missouri United States 63119 Show me on the map

About the festival

SLIFF was established for the purpose of producing, promoting, and presenting annual film events to advance film as an art form. In its first year, 25 films were shown during the last week of April, to an overall audience of 4,500.

Its mission is to enhance cultural diversity by bringing American independent productions, horizon-expanding international films and high-quality studio films to audiences before their commercial release. The Festival is especially concerned with providing filmgoers the opportunity to see works that would otherwise never screen in St. Louis.

Awards

Narrative Shorts:

Best of Fest Award. Winner in this category is eligible to submit their film for consideration for the Oscar presentations. A special jury selects the short subject awards. Cash Award Value: 500 U.S. Dollar. Value of Goods/Services: 500 U.S. Dollar;
Best Live-Action Short. Winner in this category is eligible to submit their film for consideration for the Oscar presentations;
Best Animated Short. Winner in this category is eligible to submit their film for consideration for the Oscar presentations;
Best International Short;
Best Local Short.

Documentary Features:

The Leon Award;
Interfaith Award. The juried competition spotlights 10 films (five fiction features and five documentaries) distinguished by their artistic merit, contribution to the understanding of the human condition, and recognition of ethical, social, and spiritual values.

Narrative Features:

Best Feature. The Audience Choice Award;
Best Foreign Feature. The Audience Choice Award;
New Filmmakers Forum (NFF) Emerging Filmmaker Award. 5 first-time filmmakers compete with a jury of industry professionals. Includes invitation to attend fest and variety of industry-related seminars. Cash Award Value: 500 U.S. Dollar. Value of Goods/Services: 500 U.S. Dollar;
Interfaith Award. The juried competition spotlights 10 films (five fiction features and five documentaries distinguished by their artistic merit, contribution to the understanding of the human condition, and recognition of ethical, social, and spiritual values.

Documentary Shorts:

Best Documentary Short.

Mission

The mission of Cinema St. Louis is to showcase the best in international, documentary, and American independent cinema. Believing that we discover something about ourselves when we learn about others’ cultures and perspectives, Cinema St. Louis offers programs that provide glimpses of the human experience from around the world and thoughtfully address issues of race, ethnicity, and sexual identity.

About

Awards

Narrative Shorts:

Best of Fest Award. Winner in this category is eligible to submit their film for consideration for the Oscar presentations. A special jury selects the short subject awards. Cash Award Value: 500 U.S. Dollar. Value of Goods/Services: 500 U.S. Dollar;
Best Live-Action Short. Winner in this category is eligible to submit their film for consideration for the Oscar presentations;
Best Animated Short. Winner in this category is eligible to submit their film for consideration for the Oscar presentations;
Best International Short;
Best Local Short.

Documentary Features:

The Leon Award;
Interfaith Award. The juried competition spotlights 10 films (five fiction features and five documentaries) distinguished by their artistic merit, contribution to the understanding of the human condition, and recognition of ethical, social, and spiritual values.

Narrative Features:

Best Feature. The Audience Choice Award;
Best Foreign Feature. The Audience Choice Award;
New Filmmakers Forum (NFF) Emerging Filmmaker Award. 5 first-time filmmakers compete with a jury of industry professionals. Includes invitation to attend fest and variety of industry-related seminars. Cash Award Value: 500 U.S. Dollar. Value of Goods/Services: 500 U.S. Dollar;
Interfaith Award. The juried competition spotlights 10 films (five fiction features and five documentaries distinguished by their artistic merit, contribution to the understanding of the human condition, and recognition of ethical, social, and spiritual values.

Documentary Shorts:

Best Documentary Short.

Mission

Awards & Winners

2019

Documentary Short (Winner)

Charon (2019) Director(s): Cullen Parr

Documentary Short (Winner)

St. Louis Superman (2019) Director(s): Sami Khan Smriti Mundhra

Narrative Short (Winner)

Grab My Hand: A Letter to My Dad (2019) Director(s): Camrus Johnson Pedro Piccinini

Terms and rules

ALL FILMS MUST:

be completed by entry deadline (NO works-in-progress);
be a St. Louis theatrical premiere;

Submit via Filmfreeway system.

Subtitles language: English

Premiere Requirements

No premiere requirement

Jury and Organizers

Brian Spath (Operations Supervisor);
Chris Clark (Artistic Director);
Cliff Froehlich (Executive Director).

Ratings & Reviews

Categories and fees

Best Short Short

Narrative Short

Entry fees

Early Bird (31st March, 2021) $35

Regular (30th June, 2021) $45

Late (31st July, 2021) $65

Runtime - 40 minutes

Age restriction No age restriction

Country Any country

Director's age No restriction

Director's gender Any gender

Student films No

First films No

Description

Films under 40 min. SLIFF offers an official Academy-sanctioned short subject competition, which allows winners of the Best Live Action, Best Animation and Best of Fest Awards to be eligible for consideration for an Oscar® nomination without doing a theatrical release. All shorts filmmaker finalists are encouraged to attend the festival.

Best Local Short

Documentary Short

Entry fees

Early Bird (31st March, 2021) $35

Regular (30th June, 2021) $45

Late (31st July, 2021) $65

Runtime - 40 minutes

Age restriction No age restriction

Country Any country

Director's age No restriction

Director's gender Any gender

Student films No

First films No

Description

Films under 40 min. Films under 40 min. SLIFF is now an official Academy-sanctioned documentary short subject competition, which allows the jury prize winner to be eligible for consideration for an Oscar® nomination without doing a theatrical release. We seek non-fiction films that speak to human experience ranging from the most heart-felt of human rights concerns, to uplifting tales of courage, to that of unique tales of idiosyncratic singularity among us.

Documentary Feature

Entry fees

Early Bird (31st March, 2021) $60

Regular (30th June, 2021) $75

Late (31st July, 2021) $120

Runtime 40 - minutes

Age restriction No age restriction

Country Any country

Director's age No restriction

Director's gender Any gender

Student films No

First films No

Description

Films over 40 min. SLIFF documentary programs feature a selection of the best in contemporary global nonfiction filmmaking. We seek films that speak to human experience ranging from the most heart-felt of human rights concerns, to uplifting tales of courage, to that of unique tales of idiosyncratic singularity among us.

Narrative Feature

Entry fees

Early Bird (31st March, 2021) $60

Regular (30th June, 2021) $75

Late (31st July, 2021) $120

Runtime 40 - minutes

Age restriction No age restriction

Country Any country

Director's age No restriction

Director's gender Any gender

Student films No

First films No

Description

Films over 40 min. American indies, studio releases, international and foreign language films accepted. The St. Louis International Film Festival has a solid and growing national and international reputation for its programming, particularly for its foreign language films. The New Filmmakers Forum (NFF) is a juried competition for first-time filmmakers who we perceive to be the hot directors of tomorrow to watch today. First-time filmmakers with awards for their film are strongly encouraged to apply but the competition is open to all.

Related festivals

More festivals

St. Louis International Film Festival

General Information

Venues

About the festival

Awards & Winners

2019

Terms and rules

Web & Social

Ratings & Reviews

Delete item

Categories and fees

Best Short Short

Best Local Short

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