In 1917 St. Petersburg, the frontline of the global war moves closer every day, and the Russian people are hungry, worried, and angry. When the tsar is overthrown in February, the revolutionary poets, thinkers, and avant-gardists are euphoric — freedom at last! —... Read more
International Spotlight
Sponsored by Trio Foundation of St. Louis
1945
Sunday, November 5 at 5:00pm
Tuesday, November 7 at 4:30pm
In this haunting film — based on the acclaimed short story "Homecoming" by Gábor T. Szántó — deep undercurrents run beneath the placid surface in a quaint village that's ultimately forced to face up to its ill-gotten gains from World War II. On a sweltering August... Read more
8 Borders, 8 Days
Saturday, November 11 at 2:15pm
“8 Borders, 8 Days” chronicles one woman’s personal revolution in the context of one of the greatest human-rights crises of our time. Sham, a Syrian single mother, serves as moving proof of the consequences of closing America’s doors to families fleeing war. With... Read more
Absurd Accident
Saturday, November 4 at 7:15pm
Monday, November 6 at 4:40pm
Bouncing with nail-biting suspense and ingenious humor, “Absurd Accident” — young Chinese filmmaker Li Yuhe's feature debut — portrays a puzzling crime in a rural town, where greed, lust, and wit battle it out over one long and eventful night. When a sexually... Read more
AlphaGo
Saturday, November 4 at 6:00pm
With more board configurations than there are atoms in the universe, the ancient Chinese game of Go has long been considered a grand challenge for artificial intelligence. On March 9, 2016, the worlds of Go and AI collided in South Korea for an extraordinary best-... Read more
Apricot Groves
Monday, November 6 at 9:45pm
Tuesday, November 7 at 7:15pm
Aram, an Iranian-Armenian trans youth who’s lived in the U.S. since childhood, returns to Armenia for the first time to propose to an Armenian girlfriend he met in America. On the whirlwind one-day trip, Aram encounters an array of cultural, religious, and... Read more
Art of the Game: Ukiyo-E Heroes
Thursday, November 9 at 7:30pm
“Art of the Game” takes a highly enjoyable, fascinating look at an unlikely melding of two seemingly incompatible forms: the ancient Japanese woodcut art called ukiyo-e and illustrations inspired by modern video games. Jed Henry, a skilled American illustrator,... Read more
Ask the Sexpert
Saturday, November 11 at 5:30pm
“Ask the Sexpert” tells the story of Dr. Mahinder Watsa, a highly popular 93-year-old sex-advice columnist for a daily newspaper in India. Despite sex being a taboo topic in the country, Watsa’s brand of non-moralistic advice and humor emboldens many to write in... Read more
Axolotl Overkill
Friday, November 3 at 4:30pm
Thursday, November 9 at 12:00pm
The directorial debut of Helene Hegemann, who adapts her 2010 bestselling novel, “Axolotl Roadkill” tells the story of Mifti, a 16-year-old who has just lost her mother, and the people who share the shocking and rebellious world she inhabits. As Mifti searches for... Read more
Back to Burgundy
Saturday, November 4 at 2:00pm
Monday, November 6 at 12:00pm
Jean (Pio Marmaï) left his family and his native Burgundy 10 years ago to tour the world, but when he learns of his father’s imminent death, the wanderer returns to his childhood home. With his siblings Juliette (Ana Girardot) and Jérémie (François Civil), Jean... Read more
Birdboy: The Forgotten Children
Tuesday, November 7 at 7:05pm
A gripping animated feature for teen and adult viewers, “Birdboy: The Forgotten Children” explores a landscape of ecological disaster. But even in this darkest of places, light and beauty continue to exist. Stranded on an island in a post-apocalyptic world,... Read more
Breadcrumbs
Thursday, November 9 at 4:15pm
Saturday, November 11 at 4:00pm
When photographer Liliana (frequent Almodovar star Cecilia Roth) returns to Uruguay — the stage for her tragic past — her conscience is painfully torn between the political and the personal. Will she move past her haunted history and live peacefully as a mother... Read more
Brimstone & Glory
Saturday, November 11 at 12:00pm
The National Pyrotechnic Festival in Tultepec, Mexico, is a site of festivity unlike any other in the world. In celebration of San Juan de Dios, patron saint of firework-makers, conflagrant revelry engulfs the town for 10 days. Artisans show off their technical... Read more
Bye Bye Germany
Wednesday, November 8 at 9:15pm
Friday, November 10 at 5:40pm
In 1946 Frankfurt, David Bermann (Moritz Bleibtreu of “Run Lola Run” and “Munich”) and his Jewish friends have escaped the Nazi regime and are now dreaming of leaving for America. But how will they get the money in these tough postwar times? The smooth-talking... Read more
Call Me by Your Name
Friday, November 10 at 8:00pm
It’s the summer of 1983 in the north of Italy, and Elio Perlman (Timothée Chalamet), a precocious 17-year-old American-Italian boy, spends his days in his family’s 17th-century villa transcribing and playing classical music, reading, and flirting with his friend... Read more
Cargo
Friday, November 3 at 12:00pm
Saturday, November 4 at 9:15pm
Exiled American Kevin (Warren Brown), a boat owner in Nassau, is desperate to pay his gambling debts and support his family. Wife Berneice (Persia White) has essentially given up on him: She’s tired of his promises and excuses. Pressure is mounting: Kevin has... Read more
The Cinema Travellers
Friday, November 3 at 7:30pm
This Cannes prize-winner takes viewers on a journey with the traveling cinemas of India, which bring the wonder of the movies to faraway villages annually. Seven decades on, as their lorries and cinema projectors crumble and film reels become scarce, these mobile... Read more
Clash
Monday, November 6 at 2:25pm
Wednesday, November 8 at 9:00pm
Set entirely within the confines of a police van, “Clash” — which premiered at Cannes as part of the Un Certain Regard section — dramatizes the ongoing political unrest in Egypt two years after the Arab Spring. It’s 2013 and mass protests have led to the ouster of... Read more
Cries from Syria
Saturday, November 11 at 7:30pm
“Cries from Syria” is a cinematic monument and tribute to the Syrian people, whose bravery is an inspiration for all humanity. Five years ago, the Syrian people — inspired by events in Tunisia, Libya, and Egypt — rose up against the dictatorial rule of President... Read more
Dabka
Monday, November 6 at 8:15pm
In 2008, when rookie journalist Jay Bahadur (former St. Louisan Evan Peters of the “X-Men” franchise and “American Horror Story”) has an inspiring chance encounter with his reporting idol (Al Pacino), he uproots his life and moves to Somalia to look for the story... Read more
Dalida
Saturday, November 4 at 9:30pm
Sunday, November 5 at 2:30pm
This powerful biopic is based on the true and fascinating story of acclaimed music icon Dalida (Sveva Alviti). Following the singer from her birth in Cairo through her traumatic childhood to her worldwide success with 170 million albums sold, “Dalida” provides an... Read more
Darkest Hour
Sunday, November 12 at 6:00pm
During the early days of World War II, with the fall of France imminent, Britain faces its darkest hour as the threat of invasion looms. As the seemingly unstoppable Nazi forces advance, and with the Allied army cornered on the beaches of Dunkirk, the fate of... Read more
Dim the Fluorescents
Tuesday, November 7 at 9:30pm
Sunday, November 12 at 8:00pm
Struggling actor Audrey (Claire Armstrong) and aspiring playwright Lillian (Naomi Skwarna) pour all of their creative energy into the only paying work they can find: corporate role-playing demonstrations. When they book the biggest gig of their careers at a hotel... Read more
The Divine Order
Friday, November 3 at 8:00pm
Saturday, November 4 at 2:30pm
Winner of the Audience Award for Best Narrative Film at the Tribeca Film Festival, “The Divine Order” is set in 1971 Switzerland, where women are still denied the right to vote, despite the worldwide social upheavals of the previous decade. When unassuming and... Read more
Django
Saturday, November 11 at 8:30pm
In this fictionalized biopic, Django Reinhardt (Reda Ketab), the acclaimed jazz guitarist and composer, flees from German-occupied Paris in 1943, but before leaving, he flirts with collaboration. Although a Roma — who were being rounded up with the Jews,... Read more
Doc Shorts: China Today
Monday, November 6 at 5:00pm
A look at education and social issues in modern China. 
Doc Shorts: Facing Adversity
Thursday, November 9 at 5:00pm
Examinations of how subjects navigate difficult issues. 
Doc Shorts: Family Drama
Friday, November 3 at 5:00pm
All families have issues, but some have more than others. 
Doc Shorts: Kept Out
Wednesday, November 8 at 5:00pm
A look at immigration from the perspective of those who cannot enter the U.S. 
Doc Shorts: Music & Art
Tuesday, November 7 at 5:00pm
Profiles of artists, musicians, and the communities they serve. 
Doc Shorts: The Unexpected
Friday, November 10 at 5:00pm
Unusual dispatches from around the globe. 
Faces Places
Thursday, November 9 at 4:30pm
Sunday, November 12 at 3:00pm
Eighty-nine-year old Agnès Varda, one of the leading figures of the French New Wave, and acclaimed 33-year-old French photographer and muralist JR teamed up to co-direct this enchanting documentary/road movie. Kindred spirits, Varda and JR share a lifelong passion... Read more
Fanny's Journey
Wednesday, November 8 at 4:15pm
Sunday, November 12 at 12:30pm
Based on the memoirs of Fanny Ben-Ami, “Fanny’s Journey” is an incredible tale of bravery, strength, and survival — the story of a daring young girl who will stop at nothing and fear no one. In 1943, 13-year-old Fanny (Léonie Souchaud) and her younger sisters were... Read more
The Field
Sunday, November 12 at 4:00pm
Near the West Bank’s Gush Etzion Junction — between Jerusalem and Hevron — Ali Abu Awwad dedicates his family’s field as a Palestinian Center for Non-Violence. Despite a life filled with pain and conflict — his four years in an Israeli prison, his drive-by... Read more
Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool
Sunday, November 5 at 5:15pm
Based on Peter Turner’s memoir, Paul McGuigan’s “Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool” follows the playful but passionate relationship between Turner (Jamie Bell) and the eccentric Academy Award®-winning actress Gloria Grahame (Annette Bening) in 1978 Liverpool. When... Read more
Free Speech Fear Free
Sunday, November 5 at 6:00pm
Begun when precocious filmmaker Ramsay Tarquin was 15 — he’s still only 20 — “Fear Speech Fear Free” includes some footage of his youthful attempts to explore the topic of free speech and its essential importance in democracy. But those early, haphazard man-on-the... Read more
Have a Nice Day
Monday, November 6 at 9:10pm
Saturday, November 11 at 2:00pm
A hard rain is about to fall on a small town in Southern China. In a desperate attempt to find money to save his fiancée’s failed plastic surgery, Xiao Zhang, a mere driver, steals a bag containing a million yuan from his gangster boss. News of the robbery spreads... Read more
Heal the Living
Thursday, November 9 at 6:40pm
Friday, November 10 at 9:30pm
Based on Maylis de Kerangal’s 2014 international bestselling novel “Réparer les vivants,” “Heal the Living” examines the philosophical and emotional questions that are raised when approaching the realities of organ donation. The film follows three seemingly... Read more
The Hippopotamus
Sunday, November 5 at 1:00pm
Sunday, November 12 at 9:15pm
In “The Hippopotamus” — based on a comic novel by actor/writer/comedian Stephen Fry — disgraced poet Ted Wallace (Roger Allam) is summoned to the country manor of his friends Lord and Lady Logan (Matthew Modine and Fiona Shaw) to investigate a series of... Read more
Hotel Salvation
Wednesday, November 8 at 4:30pm
Friday, November 10 at 12:00pm
An ominous dream convinces 77-year-old Dayanand Kumar that his end could be near. Informing son Rajiv of the news, Daya makes it clear that he wants to breathe his last in the holy city of Varanasi, ending the cycle of rebirth by attaining salvation. Being the... Read more
In Between
Monday, November 6 at 7:05pm
Wednesday, November 8 at 2:05pm
Lalia (Mouna Hawa), Salma (Sana Jammelieh), and Nur (Shaden Kanboura) share an apartment in the vibrant heart of Tel Aviv. Lalia, a criminal lawyer with a wicked wit, loves to burn off her workday stress in the underground club scene. Salma, slightly more subdued... Read more
Intent to Destroy
Sunday, November 12 at 7:00pm
Pulling back the curtain on mass-murder censorship in Hollywood due to U.S. government pressure to appease a strategic ally, “Intent to Destroy” embeds with a feature-film production as a springboard to explore the violent history of the Armenian genocide and the... Read more
The Islands and the Whales
Tuesday, November 7 at 6:00pm
In their remote home in the North Atlantic, the Faroe Islanders have always eaten what nature could provide, proud to put local food on the table. The land yields little, so they have always relied on harvesting their seas. Hunting whales and seabirds kept them... Read more
Jasper Jones
Tuesday, November 7 at 8:15pm
Based on the best-selling novel and featuring a stellar cast that includes Toni Collette and Hugo Weaving, “Jasper Jones” is the story of Charlie Bucktin, a bookish boy of 14 living in a small town in Western Australia. In the dead of night during the scorching... Read more
Krotoa
Tuesday, November 7 at 4:25pm
Thursday, November 9 at 12:05pm
Krotoa, a feisty and bright 11-year-old girl, is removed from her close-knit Khoi tribe to serve Jan van Riebeeck, her uncle's trading partner. Brought into the first fort established by the Dutch East India Company in 1652, she grows into a visionary young woman... Read more
Let Yourself Go
Saturday, November 11 at 6:30pm
Sunday, November 12 at 5:20pm
In this Italian variant on the screwball comedy, an uptight psychologist gets more than just a physical workout when he signs up for personal-training sessions with an attractive young instructor. Toni Sevillo (“The Great Beauty”) is outstanding as Elia, a... Read more
Lost in Paris
Wednesday, November 8 at 7:00pm
Thursday, November 9 at 2:30pm
Filmed in Dominique Abel and Fiona Gordon's signature whimsical style — last seen at SLIFF in “The Fairy” — “Lost in Paris” stars the filmmakers as a small-town Canadian librarian and a strangely seductive, oddly egotistical vagabond. When her orderly life is... Read more
Mawlana (The Preacher)
Friday, November 3 at 5:15pm
Sunday, November 12 at 12:15pm
A charismatic young sheikh moves from leading prayers in a governmental mosque to becoming a TV celebrity. Deviating from the usual religious rhetoric in a society heavily influenced by fundamentalism, Sheikh Hatem (Amr Saad) issues fatwas that are accepted by... Read more
Miss Kiet's Children
Friday, November 10 at 7:30pm
Both touching and hilarious, “Miss Kiet's Children” chronicles small changes of immense consequence. Using observation alone, without interviews or voice-over, the film assumes the perspective of four refugee children of different nationalities and closely follows... Read more
Mune: Guardian of the Moon
Saturday, November 11 at 11:00am
As legend has it, the first Guardian of the Sun threw a harpoon into the cosmos and roped the sun to bring light and warmth to all of humanity. Then the Guardian of the Moon lured the moon to the Land of Darkness to provide a balance to the sun and supply the... Read more
Narrative Shorts: Animation 1
Friday, November 3 at 9:30pm
An animated program that encompasses space, cats, and divorce. 
Narrative Shorts: Animation 2
Saturday, November 11 at 9:30pm
Animated explorations of war, mental trauma, and feuding bears. 
Narrative Shorts: Comedy
Saturday, November 4 at 9:30pm
A program with a touch of love, a spot of the macabre, and a bit of criminality. 
Narrative Shorts: Experimental
Monday, November 6 at 7:30pm
The perfect compilation to delight the eye and dazzle the brain. 
Narrative Shorts: Feminist Agenda
Sunday, November 5 at 9:30pm
These women prove that strength is displayed in a variety of ways. 
Narrative Shorts: Girl's Life
Wednesday, November 8 at 7:30pm
They may be young, but they are worldly. 
Narrative Shorts: Horror & Sci-Fi
Friday, November 10 at 10:00pm
A mash-up of genre films that explore the future or provoke scares. 
Narrative Shorts: I Do
Sunday, November 12 at 4:00pm
This program has marriage as a key feature — or a major stumbling block. 
Narrative Shorts: Mixed Emotions
Tuesday, November 7 at 7:30pm
Dramatic shorts that take you around the world and through the wringer. 
Narrative Shorts: Music
Saturday, November 4 at 3:45pm
Music is an essential component of these shorts. 
Narrative Shorts: Stars in Shorts
Saturday, November 11 at 2:00pm
Little films with big stars, including Ann Dowd, Glenn Howerton, Melissa Leo, and Emily Mortimer. 
Never Again: Forging a Convention for Crimes Against Humanity
Saturday, November 11 at 12:30pm
Following World War II, at the Nuremberg trials, members of the Nazi regime were convicted of crimes against humanity as a response to the widespread and systematic atrocities they committed against civilian populations during the war, especially the attempted... Read more
The New Fire
Monday, November 6 at 6:00pm
As the effects of climate change become more and more apparent, a new generation of nuclear engineers is on the rise, hoping to help solve the greatest environmental challenge humanity has ever faced. Despite the huge growth in renewable energy and energy... Read more
The Nile Hilton Incident
Friday, November 10 at 3:10pm
Saturday, November 11 at 9:00pm
A political thriller based on a true story, “The Nile Hilton Incident” follows Noredin (Fares Fares), a police officer in Cairo’s corrupt criminal-justice system, as he probes the murder of a famous club singer at the Nile Hilton Hotel just weeks before the 2011... Read more
Pop Aye
Thursday, November 9 at 9:00pm
Friday, November 10 at 7:05pm
In “Pop Aye,” a successful Bangkok architect in the midst of a midlife crisis is reunited with an elephant he knew growing up. The two embark on a road trip to the man's childhood home in the idyllic Thai countryside. Along the way, they meet a colorful cast of... Read more
Slack Bay
Saturday, November 11 at 2:45pm
Sunday, November 12 at 5:15pm
The bourgeois and extremely eccentric Van Peteghem family — played by such actors as Juliette Binoche, Fabrice Luchini, and Valeria Bruni Tedeschi — have settled in for another summer at their cliff-top villa overlooking the picturesque Slack Bay. Their leisurely... Read more
SLIFF/Kids Family Shorts 1
Saturday, November 4 at 12:00pm
A family-friendly program for kids ages 4-8. 
The Smuggler and Her Charges
Sunday, November 5 at 12:05pm
In 1942, the life of a Jewish orphan — the father of director Michaël Prazan — was saved by a smuggler. More than 70 years later, his son embarks on an investigation to shed light on the gray areas of the past and to explore more fully his family’s tragic destiny... Read more
SoulMate
Tuesday, November 7 at 9:00pm
Sunday, November 12 at 8:00pm
Adapted by acclaimed Hong Kong filmmaker Peter Chan (“Comrades: Almost a Love Story,” “Dragon”) from an online series written by famed Chinese novelist Anni Baobei, “SoulMate” tells the decades-spanning story of two high-school best friends. Thirty-year-old... Read more
Sour Apples
Thursday, November 9 at 9:15pm
Friday, November 10 at 12:30pm
In “Sour Apples,” Mayor Aziz Özay (director Yilmaz Erdogan) and wife Ayda (Devrim Yakut) have a trio of beautiful daughters: Muazzez (Farah Zeynep Abdullah), Türkan (Songül Öden), and Safiye (Sükran Oval). In a 1990s-set framing sequence in the town of Antalya, 40... Read more
Summer 1993
Monday, November 6 at 12:05pm
Friday, November 10 at 2:25pm
Carla Simón’s autobiographical jewel — named Best First Feature at the 2017 Berlinale — is an evocative and affecting depiction of childhood that marks the arrival of a major new voice in world cinema. In the summer of 1993, following the death of her parents, 6-... Read more
Tanna
Saturday, November 4 at 12:05pm
Friday, November 10 at 4:40pm
The extraordinary “Tanna” — a nominee for last year’s Best Foreign Language Film Oscar® — is a Romeo-and-Juliet tale set in one of the world's last tribal societies. Based on a true story, the film follows the star-crossed romance of Wawa and Dain. When an... Read more
The Teacher
Friday, November 3 at 12:10pm
Tuesday, November 7 at 2:05pm
In a middle-school classroom in Bratislava in 1983, new teacher Maria Drazdechova (Zuzana Maurery) asks her students to stand up, introduce themselves, and tell her what their parents do for a living. It slowly becomes clear that the grades the pupils earn will be... Read more
The Testament
Monday, November 6 at 7:00pm
Thursday, November 9 at 2:15pm
In this mystery about a man who is willing to risk everything to discover the truth, Holocaust researcher Yoel is in the midst of a widely covered legal battle with powerful forces in Austria over a brutal massacre of Jews that took place toward the end of World... Read more
This Cold Life
Wednesday, November 8 at 6:00pm
“This Cold Life” takes an intimate look at the colorful characters who choose to live in the isolation of the world's northernmost town, Longyearbyen, which is situated high above Norway, 300 miles from the North Pole. Living with three months of total darkness... Read more
Under the Same Sun
Saturday, November 4 at 4:30pm
Sunday, November 5 at 12:00pm
“Under the Same Sun” — directed by Mitra Sen (“The Peace Tree”) — tells the story of a confused and injured young man, Karim Jamal (Aadar Malik), who accidentally stumbles into a village of Hindu and Muslim orphaned children while on a journey to reunite with his... Read more
Union Leader
Friday, November 3 at 2:35pm
Monday, November 6 at 9:30pm
Jay Gohil (Rahul Bhat) works for Apollo Chemicals, a plant that is causing cancer and creating other serious health issues for its workers. Jay turns a blind eye to these issues over fear of losing his job, but when his good friend and colleague Digant is found... Read more
Vazante
Tuesday, November 7 at 2:00pm
Saturday, November 11 at 12:15pm
In 1821, in the remote Diamantina Mountains of Brazil, slave trader Antonio (Adriano Carvalho) returns to the decaying but imposing farmhouse he inherited to discover his wife has died in childbirth. Confined to this desolate property in the company of his... Read more
Voices Beyond the Wall: Twelve Love Poems from the Murder Capital of the World
Sunday, November 12 at 1:00pm
Rescued from the streets of San Pedro Sula, Honduras — murder capital of the world — orphaned girls find their voices in poetry as they heal traumas of their past and prepare to transition into an uncertain future. Founded 25 years ago in San Pedro Sula, a Central... Read more
What If It Works?
Wednesday, November 8 at 7:15pm
Sunday, November 12 at 8:45pm
Adrian (Luke Ford), an irrepressibly chirpy tech nerd, suffers from obsessive-compulsive disorder. Grace (Anna Samson), a beautiful street artist, suffers from dissociative identity disorder (aka multiple personalities). As new neighbors in an edgy, graffitied... Read more
When I Was 6, I Killed a Dragon
Sunday, November 5 at 8:30pm
One April morning in 2012, the director Bruno Romy ("The Fairy") and the artist Annabelle Cocollos are told that Mika, their 6-year-old daughter, has leukemia. Eight months later, when Mika is finally able to return to school, the family decides to make a... Read more
The Woman Who Left
Thursday, November 9 at 7:30pm
Winner of the Golden Lion at the 2016 Venice Film Festival, Filipino filmmaker Lav Diaz’s epic story of revenge deferred functions as a tale of class warfare. After 30 years in prison, Horacia (Charo Santos-Concio) discovers that her friend and fellow inmate... Read more
A Woman's Life
Friday, November 3 at 9:00pm
Sunday, November 5 at 2:15pm
Adapted from the novel “Une vie” by Guy de Maupassant, “A Woman’s Life” is a tale of tormented love embedded in the restrictive social and moral codes of marriage and family in 19th-century Normandy. On finishing her schooling in a convent, young aristocrat Jeanne... Read more
The Wound
Friday, November 3 at 2:30pm
Sunday, November 5 at 9:15pm
Brimming with sex and violence, “The Wound” is an exploration of tradition and sexuality set amid South Africa’s Xhosa culture. Every year, the tribe’s young men are brought to the mountains of the Eastern Cape to participate in an ancient coming-of-age ritual.... Read more