Accelerating America
Timothy Hotchner, U.S., 2008, 90 min.
Saturday, Nov. 15, 2:15 p.m., Frontenac

“Accelerating America” tells the story of a revolutionary school in Providence, R.I., that gives inner-city youths who are at risk of dropping out a second chance by accelerating their studies. At the head of the school is a fearless principal, Robert DeBlois, a quadriplegic who knows more than a little about overcoming adversity. The film movingly documents DeBlois’ tough-love educational techniques by following three hardened teens – America, Jason and Yazmine – as they struggle through a make-or-break year, drawing on conviction, pride and humor to survive. Director Hotchner is the son of storied St. Louis native A.E. Hotchner. With subject Lynn Prentiss.

Agile, Mobile, Hostile: A Year With Andre Williams
Tricia Todd & Eric Mathes, U.S., 2008, 86 min.
Wednesday, Nov. 19, 7:15 p.m., Tivoli 3

Known as “Mr. Rhythm,” Andre Williams has recorded hit records (“Bacon Fat”), written hit songs (“Shake a Tail Feather”) and worked with such legends of the industry as Berry Gordy, Ike Turner and Stevie Wonder. But throughout his 72 years, Andre has also struggled with addiction, poverty, homelessness and the legal system. The film follows the alternately charming and maddening Andre on a fascinating, funny and distressing journey. Andre makes a declaration to the filmmakers – “I’m going to show you the right way, because I’ve gone so many wrong ways” – but as he moves from gig to gig, the mercurial singer all too often succumbs to temptation, risking dire consequences.

American Swing
Jon Hart & Matthew Kaufman, U.S., 2008, 81 min.
Saturday, Nov. 15, 10:30 p.m., Tivoli 1

In 1977, New York City nightlife flourished, with disco and cocaine ruling at Studio 54 and punks smashing guitars at CBGB. Meanwhile, a raging orgy was under way at Plato’s Retreat. Chronicling the rise and fall of this notorious sex club and its quixotic owner, Larry Levenson, “American Swing” – a buzz film at the Toronto fest – captures the glorious last gasp of the sexual revolution. Bankrolled by shady investors with mob links, Levenson and his swinger girlfriend created a relaxed atmosphere where inhibitions were cast aside. The film intercuts vivid recollections by club regulars, both famous and anonymous, with outlandish archival footage.

Shown with
Why We Wax (Kimberly M. Wetherell & Amy Axelson, U.S., 2007, 20 min.), a saucily entertaining look at the reasons why we remove “the hair down there.”

As Slow As Possible
Scott Smith, Canada, 2008, 60 min.
Saturday, Nov. 22, 5:30 p.m., Tivoli 3

On his 18th birthday, Ryan Knighton was told he would slowly go blind. Fifteen years later, as he prepares to lose his last sliver of sight, Ryan sets out to Halberstadt, Germany, to hear the first note change in a 639-year-long automated organ performance of the John Cage composition “As Slow As Possible.” Part road trip, part meditation on Ryan’s relationship to his sighted past and the uncertainty of his future, the film follows its witty, thoughtful, hyper-articulate subject as he canes his way from Canada to Berlin to the 1,000-year-old church in Halberstadt where the organ is nearing its epochal note change. With director Smith.

Shown with
Letter of Thanks (Douglas Passon, U.S., 2007, 21 min.), the true story of how a letter from a female soldier in the first Gulf War became one of Elvis Costello’s finest songs.

At the Edge of the World
Dan Stone, U.S., 2008, 101 min.
Thursday, Nov. 20, 7 p.m., Tivoli 1

“At the Edge of the World,” which premiered at Toronto, follows Paul Watson’s controversial Sea Shepherd Conservation Society in its Antarctic campaign against illegal whaling, with an international volunteer crew coming together on two ships to find and stop a Japanese whaling fleet in the Ross Sea. Using a verite approach, the film becomes a gripping adventure story, replete with intriguing personalities who risk everything in a uniquely beautiful and dangerous corner of the world. With director Stone.

Shown with
The World Away Dan Stone, U.S., 2008, 16 min.), which juxtaposes Wernher von Braun’s complicity with the Nazis and his work with the American space program.

Beautiful Son
Don King & Julianne Yamamoto King, U.S., 2007, 63 min.
Friday, Nov. 21, 7 p.m., Webster

In 2003, the filmmakers realized that something was wrong with their 3-year-old son: Beau was losing his coordination and ability to speak and becoming disconnected from the outside world. They brought him to the best doctors and took along a camera. A couple of months later, Beau was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). “Beautiful Son” movingly documents one family’s struggle to save their son, but it also provides a revealing look at an illness reaching epidemic proportion – now affecting one in every 166 children – and a grassroots movement of parents and doctors demanding research into autism’s causes and cure.

Shown with
Movement (Alex O’Flinn & Mikiko Sasaki, U.S., 2007, 21 min.), in which filmmaker O’Flinn confronts his benign myoclonus, a rare movement disorder that causes an uncontrollable twitch.

Blessed Is the Match: The Life and Death of Hannah Senesh
Roberta Grossman, U.S., 2008, 85 min.
Monday, Nov. 17, 7 p.m., Frontenac

Narrated by Academy Award® nominee Joan Allen, “Blessed Is the Match” is the first documentary feature about Hannah Senesh, the Hungarian poet and diarist who became a paratrooper, resistance fighter and modern-day Joan of Arc. Safe in Palestine in 1944, Hannah joined the only military rescue mission for Jews during the Holocaust. Parachuting behind enemy lines, she was captured, tortured and ultimately executed. Her mother, Catherine, witnessed the ordeal, first as a prisoner with Hannah and later as her daughter’s advocate, braving the bombed-out streets of Budapest in a desperate attempt to save Hannah. With unprecedented access to the family’s archive, the film unfolds through the writings of Hannah and Catherine Senesh.

Burning the Future: Coal in America
David Novack, U.S., 2007, 89 min.
Sunday, Nov. 23, 3 p.m., SLAM

“Burning the Future” examines the explosive forces that have set in motion a conflict between the coal industry and the residents of West Virginia. Confronted by an emerging coal-based U.S. energy policy, local activists watch the nation praise coal without regard to the devastation caused by its extraction. Faced with toxic groundwater, the obliteration of 1.4 million acres of mountains, and a government that appeases industry, the film’s subjects wage an improbable fight to arouse the nation’s help in protecting their mountains, saving their families and preserving their way of life. With director Novack.

Shown with
Fighting Goliath: Texas Coal Wars (Mat Hames & George Sledge, U.S., 2007, 32 min.), a Robert Redford-narrated documentary about Texas towns banding together to fight conventional coal-fired power plants. With executive producer and St. Louis native Jill Tidman.

A panel on the issues raised by the films will immediately follow the screening. Participants include moderator D.J. Wilson, communications director of East-West Gateway and host of KDHX's "Collateral Damage"; filmmakers Novack and Tidman; Fred Palmer, senior vice president of government relations of Peabody Energy; Kat Logan Smith, executive director of Missouri Coalition for the Environment; Tom Smith, Texas state director of Public Citizen; and Warren Wood, president of Missouri Energy Development Association.

Carny
Alison Murray, U.S., 2008, 75 min.
Saturday, Nov. 22, 3:30 p.m., Tivoli 3

“Carny” takes an intimate, gritty and poetic look at the lives of carnies, the traveling fairground workers who have abandoned the security of the “real world” for the refuge of the road. Through the eyes of Hairy, the charismatic lesbian cotton-candy seller, we see a world of fierce friendships that only partially compensate for personal hardships and troubled pasts. The carnies struggle with addiction, loneliness, poverty and shattered dreams, finding solace only in the company of their own. Some have worked the fairs for more than 50 years, some were born or escaped into it, but all are gripped by the romance of the bright midway lights.
With cinematographer and St. Louis native Virginia Lee Hunter.

Chasing Birds
Greg Woodland, Australia, 2008, 54 min.
Saturday, Nov. 15, 12:30 p.m., Frontenac

Australia is home to more than 800 species of birds, from honeyeaters to hawks, spoonbills to cockatoos. It is also home to a unique species of bird lover – “twitchers” is the commonly used name – who take their ornithological enthusiasm to the extreme. “Chasing Birds” follows three teams – the Hunter Thickheads, the Hunter Home-Brewers and the Whacked Out Woodswallows – as they compete in an annual “Twitchathon,” whose aim is to spot as many species as possible in 24 hours. Part comedy, part natural history and part road movie, “Chasing Birds” takes audiences on a vicarious journey into the heart of serious obsession.

Shown with
Elegy for the Elswyck Envoy (Nancy Willis, U.K., 2007, 24 min.), a witty and moving double portrait of a unique vehicle and an owner in search of just the right home for her exhausted car.