20th Annual St. Louis Filmmakers Showcase

The Whitaker St. Louis Filmmakers Showcase, an annual presentation of the nonprofit Cinema St. Louis, 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.

Because of the Covid-19 health crisis, the Showcase will be presented virtually in 2020. This short video provides more information on CSL’s decision to move its 2020 festivals and events online. CSL is partnering with Eventive, which also handles our ticketing, to present the Virtual Festival.

The Showcase’s 15 film programs range from full-length fiction features and documentaries to multi-film compilations of fiction and documentary shorts.

In addition to the film programs, which will be available for streaming anytime during the July 10-19 run of the Showcase, this year’s event features a series of free master classes focused on key aspects of making and marketing an independent narrative feature. These will be offered as live streams at specific times/dates during the Showcase, but recordings of the presentations will also be archived and available on Cinema St. Louis’ YouTube channel.

The master classes are sponsored by the Chellappa-Vedavalli Foundation, which also is underwriting a $500 juried prize for the Best Film at the Showcase.

A free live stream on the evening of July 19 will present the Showcase jury awards and announce the films that will move on to the Whitaker St. Louis International Film Festival in November.

Virtual Festival Basics

• The Showcase’s complete lineup of features and shorts programs will be available to view on demand anytime from July 10-19.
• The master classes and awards presentation will be offered as live streams at specific times/dates. These events will be free.
• Recorded Q&As with filmmakers and documentary subjects will accompany many of the programs.
• Once a ticket-holder begins watching a program, access to it remains available for 48 hours.
• Full information on access, including system requirements, is found in the Virtual Fest FAQ.
• Help with playing films on your TV (through HDMI, casting/airplay, or apps) is found here.

Tickets

Individual tickets are $10 for general admission, $8 for Cinema St. Louis members and students with valid and current photo IDs. (There will be a credit-card/handling fee of $1.50 for all tickets.) To obtain a student discount code, contact Brian Spath (brian@cinemastlouis.org) and provide an image of a currently valid student ID.

Passes

Two forms of passes are available:

• Five-Film Passes are $35, $30 for CSL members. (There will be a credit-card/handling fee of $2.83 for the $35 pass and of $2.56 for the $30 member pass.)
• All-Access Passes are $75, $60 for CSL members. (There will be a credit-card/handling fee of $4.89 for the $75 pass and of $4.11 for the $60 member pass.)

If you’re interested in seeing all Showcase programs, the pass offers great value: With a pass, the 15 paid programs — $150 if purchased individually — cost only $75, a savings of $75. CSL members also receive a substantial discount: $60 for a pass vs. $120 for the individual programs.



Contributions

CSL will gratefully accept contributions of any size to help with the challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic. Click here for ways to support the organization.