23rd Annual Whitaker St. Louis Filmmakers Showcase Runs July 21-30, 2023

By Movie Geeks | June 13, 2023

The Whitaker St. Louis Filmmakers Showcase, an annual presentation of the nonprofit Cinema St. Louis (CSL), serves as the area’s primary venue for films made by local artists. The Showcase screens works that were shot in the St. Louis region or were written, directed, or produced by St. Louis-area residents or by filmmakers with strong local ties who are now working elsewhere.

The 91 films in this year’s Showcase is spread across 17 film programs ranging from narrative and documentary features to multi-film compilations of fiction, experimental, and documentary shorts. Feature length film programs include Q&As with filmmakers. In addition to the film programs, this year’s event includes three free master classes focused on key aspects of filmmaking.

All film programs screen exclusively at the Hi-Pointe Theatre. Three master classes will also be offered, two at the theater and a legal-issues master class will be held at the offices of Capes Sokol in Clayton.

The July 30th closing-night awards presentation will take place in the Hi-Pointe Theatre from 7:30 – 10:30 PM, with awards announcements beginning at 8:30 PM. Announced during the event will be nearly two dozen Showcase jury awards — including the Essy Award, a $1,000 prize to the overall Best Showcase Film. Cinema St. Louis staff will also announce the films that will move on to the 32nd Annual Whitaker St. Louis International Film Festival in November.

The 91 films and three master classes in this year’s Showcase include the following:

• Animated and Experimental Shorts: Over a dozen animated and experimental works are presented in a colorful shorts program.
• Doc Shorts: Two illuminating and thoughtful documentary-short programs feature a wide range of stories and subjects.
• Master Classes: A series of three free master classes — featuring filmmakers and industry professionals — focus on key aspects of filmmaking: winners in the Missouri Stories Lab, Film Criticism, and Legal Issues.
• Narrative Shorts: Eight eclectic narrative-short programs include comedies, dramas, thrillers, supernatural and experimental films
• “The Box” is a sci-fi project over 11 years in the making by Doveed Linder, whose feature  film “Defiance” screened in the very first Showcase in 2001
• “Anthem: Road to Redemption” is a documentary about an 80’s St. Louis high school cover band who makes an album and holds a reunion concert 40 years later.
• “Bring Dat Mono Back” is a documentary about The Monastery nightclub and the birth of dance craze the “Mono,” that has influenced local dance and music culture to this day.
• “Somewhere in Old Missouri” is a supernatural, mid-western musical in a program along with three lively music videos.

23rd Annual Whitaker St. Louis Filmmakers Showcase

Dates: Screenings held July 21-23 and 28-30, 2023

Tickets: Individual tickets are $15 for general admission, $12 for Cinema St. Louis members and students with valid and current photo IDs

Locations: All film screenings and closing night awards party will take place at the Hi-Pointe Theatre, located at 1005 McCausland Ave., at the intersection of McCausland Ave. and Clayton Rd. Two of the filmmaking master classes will also be held at the theater; and the closing-night party will be held at the Hi-Pointe Theatre.

Passes: 5-film passes are available for $65, $50 for CSL members; VIP passes are available for $140, $105 for CSL members

Ticket and Pass Purchase: cinemastlouis.org/st-louis-filmmakers-showcase

The Whitaker Foundation again serves as the Showcase’s title sponsor. The foundation’s twofold mission is to encourage the preservation and use of parks and to enrich lives through the arts. The Chellappa-Vedavalli Foundation is underwriting both the Showcase’s master classes and the Essy Award, a $1,000 prize for the Best Showcase Film.

The event’s other sponsors include Arts & Education Council, Capes Sokol, Cheshire, Explore St. Louis, Grizzell & Co., Lindell Bank, Missouri Arts Council, Missouri Division of Tourism, Missouri Film Office, Regional Arts Commission, St. Louis Convention & Visitors Commission, and St. Louis Public Radio.

Instagram: @stlfilmshowcase Twitter: @stlfilmshowcase Facebook: @STLFilmmakersShowcase

For more information, the public should visit cinemastlouis.org.