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.
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.
Two forms of passes are available:
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.
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.