Cannes, Venice, Berlin, Toronto, Palm Springs, Sundance, St. Louis.

Every year since 1991, cinephiles from the greater Metro-East have congregated at the Tivoli, the Plaza Frontenac, Webster University and Washington University for the St. Louis International Film Festival. Running Nov. 10-20, SLIFF offers screenings of 400 short films, documentaries and independent films from more than 40 countries. SLIFF is presented by Cinema St. Louis, a non-profit organization that promotes cinematic art.

Chris Clark of Cinema St. Louis serves as SLIFF’s artistic director. Clark and two others will run the 11-day festival at eight locations. Clark and company have selected Michel Hazanavicius’s “The Artist” to open SLIFF at 8 p.m. on Nov. 10 at the Tivoli. Filmed in black-and-white, “The Artist” is a silent musical throwback to Hollywood’s own silent movie days. It co-stars James Cromwell (“Babe”), Malcolm McDowell (“A Clockwork Orange”) and St. Louis-native John Goodman (“The Big Lebowski”).

“‘The Artist’ is a great love letter to the whole history of film,” Clark said.

Senior Ryan Natoli in the College of Arts and Sciences named “The Artist” as his most-anticipated film of the festival.

“Silent and black-and-white in 2011? I want to see if they can pull it off,” Natoli said.

As the capstone for his film and media studies certificate, Natoli has interned at Cinema St. Louis during the fall semester, working with Clark and others on preparing for SLIFF, specifically compiling some of the short film programs. Natoli said he will volunteer to work the festival and recommends the documentary “The Athlete,” of which he had a sneak-peek.

Along with the French comedy, “The Fairy,” “The Athlete” is one of Clark’s favorite films at the festival. Clark calls “The Athlete,” which is about the first African to win an Olympic medal, “an empowering story, beautifully shot. It’s an inspiring story even though you know the history. It’s pretty spectacular.”

Natoli said he also recommends the documentary “You’ve Been Trumped” which chronicles Donald Trump’s efforts to acquire a shoreline and build hotels and golf courses on it.

“It is a heavily preserved area, and some of the locals go down swinging,” Natoli said. “That’s an interesting film.”

Gary Seibert, S.J., professor of communications, has been going to SLIFF since it first started 20 years ago. He said he has remained a loyal enthusiast ever since.

“Thousands of people find their way [to the festival] who want to learn something and have fun,” Seibert said. “There are a couple films from Israel, Poland and Denmark that I want to see. I mean, how many times can you watch ‘Halloween 12?’”

Other highlights of the SLIFF lineup include Jean-Luc Godard’s “Film Socialisme,” which has been both praised and panned for its obtuse and avant-garde aesthetic. Similarly controversial, Steve McQueen’s “Shame” starring Michael Fassbender (“Inglourious Basterds”) will play for St. Louis crowds. “Shame,” a portrait of a man with a sexual addiction, was recently slapped with an NC-17 rating by the Motion Picture Association of America for its explicit sexual content. “World on a Wire,” the newly-discovered, three-and-a-half-hour space odyssey from Rainer Werner Fassbinder, will also make its way to St. Louis for the first time.

“We cover low-brow, high-brow and every brow in between,” Clark said.

Clark said that he hopes SLIFF offers “a great cross sampling of some of the best filmmakers on the planet.”

Every year, SLIFF presents several special awards, in addition to the audience choice awards. This year, Bill Plympton will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award, following directors Paul Schrader and John Sayles, among others. Documentarian Steve James (“Hoop Dreams”) will receive the Laysles Brothers Lifetime Achievement Award in Documentary and screen his own “Stevie” and “The Interrupters.” Jay and Mark Duplass (“Cyrus”) will receive the Contemporary Cinema Award and screen their newest comedy “Jeff, Who Lives at Home,” starring Jason Segel (“Forgetting Sarah Marshall”), Susan Sarandon (“Dead Man Walking”) and Ed Helms (“The Office”). The Contemporary Cinema Award was previously given to SLU alumnus James Gunn.
In addition to the honorary awards, SLIFF offers special events and sidebars throughout the week, including The New Filmmakers Forum Coffee with the filmmakers and several post-film discussions. SLU Professor of English and Film Studies James Scott will speak on a panel following the documentary “Miss Representation.” The film explores “themes from the women’s movement, especially certain disadvantages women run into in the workplace,” Scott said.

“Miss Representation” will screen Nov. 12 at 7 p.m. at the Plaza Frontenac Cinema.

A documentarian himself, Scott said he has given students in his American Documentaries class the opportunity to write their final project on documentaries that they see at the festival, and that he recommends students take the rare chance to see foreign films.

“If you are studying Spanish or studying German or studying French, this is an opportunity to see films in their original language,” Scott said.

Similarly, Seibert said he encourages the students in his media scriptwriting class to attend the festival, regardless of whether they are pursuing a certificate in film and media studies.

“It is most interesting for people who have not gone before,” Seibert said. “One of the most valuable things from the student point-of-view is the sidebars. They have lots of really smart people. I encourage people to go, just go to anything.”

In addition to international films, SLIFF offers “an amazing bounty of St. Louis- and Missouri-shot films,” Clark said.

Among them is Robert Herrera’s “The Gray Seasons.” The documentary takes place more than four years after the SLU women’s basketball hired Shimmy Gray-Miller to revitalize the team. Scott also named “The Gray Seasons” as a film he does not want to miss. Gray-Miller and Herrera will attend the screening on Nov. 15 at 6.30 p.m. at the Tivoli.

One feature the festival offers is the ability to ask questions of filmmakers who accompany their films or to see them interviewed.

“There is an important relationship between the independent production movement in the U.S. outside of the schematic studios and the festival, which becomes the primary instrument for putting films into show dates,” Scott said.

Natoli said he encourages fellow students to frequent SLIFF.

“This is the only opportunity you might have to see these films,” Natoli said. “St. Louis is not like New York or L.A. where there is a huge amount of opportunity to see smaller films. They’re still great stories that deserve to be seen. This is your opportunity to see them.”

SLIFF will close on Nov. 20 with Alexander Payne’s “The Descendents,” starring George Clooney, and Lynne Ramsay’s “We Need to Talk about Kevin,” starring Tilda Swinton and John C. Reilly.

“I challenge everybody to pick something out that you may not want to see because you’d be hard-pressed to find it anywhere else,” Clark said. “This is your chance.”

A full schedule of the SLIFF lineup is available at cinemastlouis.org/sliff-2011. Tickets are currently on sale.