Within Our Gates
Friday, Nov. 13, 7 p.m., SLAM
Regular ticket price of $10

The silent “Within Our Gates” is African-American writer-director Oscar Micheaux’s response to D.W. Griffith’s “Birth of a Nation.” The screening will feature live musical accompaniment by Cairo, Ill.’s Stace England and the Salt Kings, who will perform an original score. Micheaux biographer Patrick McGilligan will introduce the program and participate in a post-film discussion.

Co-presented by Washington U.’s Center for the Study of Ethics and Human Values

For the Love of Movies:
The Story of American Film Criticism
With a panel on film criticism
Saturday, Nov. 14, 11 a.m., Tivoli 3
Free

This documentary by director Gerald Peary, a longtime critic for the Boston Phoenix, offers revealing insight into how film critics think about and see movies. The documentary is followed by a panel on film criticism with Harper Barnes, Kent Jones, Patrick McGilligan, Peary and Joe Williams. Free coffee and pastries are provided by Kaldi’s Coffeehouse.

Sponsored by Kaldi’s Coffeehouse

Double Bill:
The Gigantic World of Epics
Once Upon a Time in the West
Saturday, Nov. 14, 1 p.m., Webster
Regular ticket price of $10

SLIFF offers a sneak preview of an upcoming Turner Classic Movies documentary on epic filmmaking, which surveys grandly scaled cinema from D.W. Griffith to the present. As illustrative example, the program then screens a recently restored 35mm print of Sergio Leone’s epic masterpiece, Once Upon a Time in the West.

Up in the Air Cocktail Party
Saturday, Nov. 14, 4-6 p.m., Hilton at the Ballpark
Special-event ticket price of $50; limited number of tickets available only by phone through the SLIFF office at 314-289-4153

Before the local premiere of the St. Louis-shot "Up in the Air," SLIFF hosts a cocktail party at the Hilton at the Ballpark, which was featured in the film and housed the
out-of-town crew. The party includes complimentary appetizers, Stella Artois, and wine from Ste. Genevieve's Chaumette Winery and Vineyards.

Sponsored by the Hilton St. Louis at the Ballpark

Up in the Air
With Jason Reitman, recipient of SLIFF’s Contemporary Cinema Award, and Michael Beugg, recipient of SLIFF’s Cinema St. Louis Award
Saturday, Nov. 14, 7 p.m., Tivoli 1
Special-event ticket price of $25 SOLD OUT

Jason Reitman, the Oscar®-nominated director of “Juno” and “Thank You for Smoking,” continues his ascent with the St. Louis-shot dramatic comedy Up in the Air, which stars George Clooney. Both writer-director Reitman and executive producer Michael Beugg, a native St. Louisan, will be honored at the screening. Following the screening, St. Louis Post-Dispatch critic Joe Williams will conduct a Q&A with Reitman.

Sponsored by American Airlines

The Amazing Oscar Micheaux Concert
Saturday, Nov. 14, 10 p.m., Pageant’s Halo Bar
Suggested donation of $5

Cairo, Ill.’s Stace England and the Salt Kings recently released “The Amazing Oscar Micheaux,” a CD of songs inspired by the pioneering African-American filmmaker’s life and work. England and the band perform the CD live, with a multimedia show featuring photographs and excerpts from Micheaux’s films.

NFF Coffee With the Filmmakers
Sunday, Nov. 15, 11 a.m., Tivoli 3
Free

The New Filmmakers Forum concludes with a conversation among the participating directors. Free coffee and pastries are provided by Kaldi’s Coffeehouse. The event ends with the presentation of the Emerging Director Award by the NFF jury.

Sponsored by Kaldi’s Coffeehouse

Crude
With Joe Berlinger, recipient of SLIFF’s Maysles Brothers Lifetime Achievement Award in Documentary
Sunday, Nov. 15, 6:30 p.m., Tivoli 1
Regular ticket price of $10

SLIFF honors renowned filmmaker Berlinger for his extraordinary work in documentary film and presents his new film, Crude, an epic cinema vérité documentary that chronicles one of the planet’s largest and most controversial environmental lawsuits. After the screening, Big Sky Documentary Film Festival director Mike Steinberg conducts an interview with Berlinger.

Sponsored by John and Diane Kalishman

Ride With the Devil: Director’s Cut
With a panel on book-to-film translation
Sunday, Nov. 15, 6:30 p.m., Brown Hall
Free

Based on Missourian Daniel Woodrell’s novel, the Civil War-set “Ride With the Devil” was shot entirely in Missouri and Kansas. Oscar®-winning director Ang Lee has now revisited the film, restoring vital material. Following the film, novelist Woodrell will discuss his work and the process of book-to-film translation with fellow author Mark Tiedemann.

Co-presented by the Missouri Center for the Book and Washington University’s Film and Media Studies Program

Bosnian Cinema Program
Nov. 17-18

SLIFF spotlights Bosnian film in this collaborative program, which includes a free program with filmmaker Faruk Sabanovic on Nov. 17 at UM-St. Louis; screenings of "Grabavica" (Nov. 17) and "Snow" (Nov. 17-18) at the Tivoli; and a free screening of a pair of Sarajevo documentaries by Edward Serrota on Nov. 18 at Fontbonne. The sidebar was curated by Dr. Rita M. Csapo-Sweet, associate professor of media studies and a fellow at the Center for International Studies, University of Missouri-St. Louis.

Sponsored by ArtsLink Foundation; Fontbonne University; BiH Travel; Holocaust Museum and Learning Center; Missouri Immigration and Refugee Advocates; Paraquad; and UM-St. Louis' Center for International Studies, Department of Theater, Dance and Media Studies, Office of Disability Access Services, and Office of Equal Opportunity & Diversity

Faruk Sabanovic Program
Tuesday, Nov. 17, 3:30 p.m., UM-St. Louis' Lucas Hall, Room 200
Free

Award-winning director Faruk Sabanovic will show clips from and discuss his films. He will share his experiences living in Sarajevo during the siege, his humanitarian efforts on behalf of the disabled community as a result of his war injury, and his remarkable body of work in feature films, music videos and animation.

CinemaSpoke Reading:
Broken Sinclair
Tuesday, Nov. 17, 7 p.m., Webster
Free

SLIFF presents a reading of Beth Ashby's "Broken Sinclair," the 2009 winner of CinemaSpoke, Cinema St. Louis' annual screenplay competition. The screenplay chronicles the seriocomic travails of Broken Sinclair, who finds himself at something of a disadvantage when it comes to being normal - he was born empty. While his parents attempt to sell him to a collector of oddities, an unwanted middle-school crush gives him a reason to fight for his life and discover secrets to being human.

Edward Serotta Program
Wednesday, Nov. 18, 6 p.m., Fontbonne University Library's Lewis Room
Free

"Nightline" producer-director Edward Serotta will show his documentaries "The Search for the Sarajevo Hagaddah" and "Surviving in Sarajevo." Serotta is author of "Survival in Sarajevo: How a Jewish Community Came to the Aid of Its City" and director of the Centropa Center in Vienna, which is dedicated to exploring and documenting Jewish life in Eastern and Central Europe.

Old Dog, New Trick/The Pride of St. Louis
Friday, Nov. 20, 7 p.m., Tivoli 1
Regular ticket price of $10

A pair of new rock documentaries tracks key players who ascended from the vibrant St. Louis scene of the 1970s to the national stage. Old Dog, New Trick features Steve Scorfina, a founding member of Pavlov’s Dog and REO Speedwagon, and The Pride of St. Louis focuses on Mama’s Pride, led by brothers Pat and Danny Liston. A concert by Scorfina and Danny Liston follows at Blueberry Hill’s Duck Room. The concert requires separate admission; a discounted twofer ticket that includes both screening and concert is available at the Tivoli box office.

Sponsored by Star Clipper, CALOP and HEC-TV

Saving Grace B. Jones
With Connie Stevens
Friday, Nov. 20, 7 p.m., Saint Louis Art Museum
Regular ticket price of $10

Legendary actress and singer Connie Stevens (still beloved as Cricket from "Hawaiian Eye") makes her belated but assured debut as a writer-director with the Missouri-shot drama "Saving Grace B. Jones." The film's deep cast includes Oscar® winner Tatum O'Neal, Scott Wilson ("In Cold Blood"), Michael Biehn ("The Terminator"), Penelope Ann Miller and three-time Oscar® nominee Piper Laurie. Ms. Stevens and a half-dozen cast members will attend the screening.

Sponsored by David Houlle, Sight and Sound Production Services

Mystery Science Theater 3000/
Cinematic Titanic Panel
Friday, Nov. 20, 9:30 p.m., Tivoli 1
Regular ticket price of $10

Joel Hodgson, creator and host of "Mystery Science Theater 3000," and the original cast of the cult-classic TV show - Trace Beaulieu ("Crow"), J. Elvis Weinstein ("Tom Servo"), Mary Jo Pehl ("Pearl Forrester") and Frank Conniff ("TV's Frank") - discuss the development of "MST3K," the art of "movie riffing" and their new movie-riffing project, "Cinematic Titanic Live" (see below). Moderated by Dave ("Gruber") Allen, the program will include video clips, an audience Q&A and a signing by the cast immediately following.

Co-presented by the Family Arena

Steve Scorfina/Danny Liston Concert
Friday, Nov. 20, doors at 8 p.m. with show at 9:30 p.m., Blueberry Hill’s Duck Room
$10 for concert alone, $18 for concert and screening of Old Dog, New Trick and The Pride of St. Louis; tickets available only through Tivoli box office

After the screening of the St. Louis rock docs Old Dog, New Trick and The Pride of St. Louis, two of the films’ subjects, Pavlov’s Dog’s Steve Scorfina and Mama’s Pride’s Danny Liston, perform in an acoustic setting at the Duck Room.

Cinematic Titanic Live
Saturday, Nov. 21, 7:30 p.m., Family Arena, St. Charles
Ticket price of $30-$40
Tickets available through MetroTix: www.metrotix.com, 314-534-1111, 800-293-5949

Joel Hodgson and crew - Trace Beaulieu, J. Elvis Weinstein, Mary Jo Pehl, and Frank Conniff - present "Cinematic Titanic Live," the theatrical version of movie riffing, the comedic art form they created more than 20 years ago in the form of "Mystery Science Theater 3000." The five cast members take the stage and riff on a feature film, taking aim at some of the cheesiest movies ever made and providing a hilarious evening of entertainment. Film Threat calls "Cinematic Titanic Live" "howlingly hysterical," and the Washington Post's Tom Shales calls Hodgson and co. "consistently and unfailingly funny." A panel on "MST3" and "Cinematic Titanic" with Hodgson and the cast members is held on Friday, Nov. 20, at the Tivoli (see above).

Presented by the Family Arena

Children’s Film Symposium
Saturday, Nov. 21, 10 a.m.-9:30 p.m., Brown Hall
Free

Washington U.’s Center for the Humanities and Cinema St. Louis annually present this symposium, which explores issues related to children’s films through screenings, lectures and discussions. The free public program includes screenings of four films: the animated features Princess of the Sun and Egon & Donci, the Indian feature Tahaan and the French-Canadian teen drama West of Pluto. The day concludes with animation historian Michael Barrier’s program on The Hollywood Cartoon. Visit the Center’s Web site for more information: cenhum.artsci.wustl.edu.

Co-presented by Washington University’s Center for the Humanities

Triple Bill: The Brothers Warner/Robin Hood (silent)/The Adventures of Robin Hood
Saturday, Nov. 21, 6 p.m., Webster
Regular ticket price of $10

This special triple bill kicks off with The Brothers Warner, an intimate portrait of the four film pioneers who founded Warner Bros. The documentary is paired with a Warner Bros. classic: The Adventures of Robin Hood, the vibrant restoration of the 1938 epic. As an added bonus, the program also includes the first American version of “Robin Hood,” a recently restored 1912 silent short with live musical accompaniment.

The Hollywood Cartoon
Saturday, Nov. 21, 7:30 p.m., Brown Hall
Free

Animation and comics historian Michael Barrier presents an annotated history of The Hollywood Cartoon, screening and commenting on a half-dozen exemplars of the animated short from the Walt Disney, Warner Bros. and MGM studios: “Beep Beep.” “Book Revue,” Fresh Airedale,” “Little Rural Riding Hood,” “Who Killed Cock Robin?” and “Woodland Cafe.”

Co-presented by Washington University’s Center for the Humanities

Closing-Night Party
Sunday, Nov. 22, 8 p.m., Moonrise Hotel
Free (with complimentary Stella Artois and cash bar)

The festival concludes with a party at SLIFF’s Host Hotel, the Moonrise. DJ Rob Levy provides music, and SLIFF announces the audience-choice and juried-competition awards.

Sponsored by Stella Artois