Cheers to CITY with Julie and Volunteering with SLIFF

After taking care of some home chores yesterday (18 November), I picked up Julie that afternoon to CITYPARK. St. Louis CITY SC was holding a Holiday event for its season ticket holders, "Cheers to CITY." 

After parking by Schlafly Tap Room, Julie and I walked to the southeast gate of CITYPARK. During the walk, we met my neighbors Paul Trelford, his wife Laura, and their daughter Lily. They were also attending this event. I introduced the Trelfords to Julie.

Inside CITYPARK, Julie and I navigated among the large crowd in the concourses. The souvenir stand was open and doing great business. Several Christmas Trees were displayed, decorated by club sponsors and attendees could vote for their favorite tree. Christmas music was played over the public address system.

Julie and I stood in line to get our picture taken on a sleigh parked on the edge of the pitch. It was about a 45-minute wait before we were able to get in the sleigh for the picture. The photographer took a shot of us in one take. It came out great.

After a bit more browsing, Julie and I left CITYPARK to get back to our car. The Trelfords met us as we crossed the street. (Their car was parked behind mine.) After saying our goodbyes, I began to drive Julie home.

Right after dropping Julie off, I headed to Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, located at City Foundry in Midtown St. Louis. I arrived early that night for my first volunteer assignment at this year's St. Louis International Film Festival (SLIFF). (I was supposed to have gotten there in late afternoon, but the Cheers to CITY event and going to Julie's apartment and back pushed back the timetable.) After reporting to the venue captain, I prepared for my role.

I was assigned to a theater where the narrative feature The Shade was being screened. I scanned the attendees' tickets and gave them ballots for rating the film. I also provided demographic surveys for those who had not done so yet at this year's festival. After making sure everyone with a ticket had shown up, I was able to enter the theater to watch the movie. This drama told of a young man dealing with the death of his father and serious mental health issues. It was quite harrowing at times, but very well made by a first-time narrative director. Thus, it was up for SLIFF's New Filmmakers Forum Emerging Director Award.

After the movie and a brief question and answer session with the film's director, Tyler Chipman, I collected fan ballots and demographic surveys filled out by the audience. I brought these items to the venue captain's table, where I helped count the ballots and made sure the tablets used for scanning tickets were delivered to the Alamo Drafthouse's manager for safe keeping. It was my first time both at this venue and at City Foundry, and I really liked what I saw.

Midday today, I was at Brown Hall on the Washington University campus for my other SLIFF volunteer assignment. I welcomed audience members attending the screening of the documentary feature "A Mother, Youngsoon," a South Korean film about a woman who defected from North Korea with her younger son and how the two were trying to make a new life in South Korea. It was quite a fascinating film.

After my shift ended, I drove away from Washington University to get a late lunch. I ended up getting it--a smashburger and fries--at The Post Sports Bar & Grill in Maplewood. Most patrons there were watching NFL games on several TVs in the restaurant. I barely paid attention to the action.

I enjoyed my lunch and then went to a Dairy Queen in Webster Groves to get a Blizzard concrete for dessert. After stopping in a shopping mall parking lot to enjoy my Blizzard, it was time to go home.

Later.

Links to Websites of Entities Mentioned in this Post:

CITYPARK: CITYPARK | St. Louis CITY SC (stlcitysc.com)

St. Louis CITY SC: St. Louis CITY SC (stlcitysc.com)

Alamo Drafthouse Cinema: St. Louis | Alamo Drafthouse Cinema

St. Louis International Film Festival: 32nd Annual SLIFF | Cinema St Louis

City Foundry: Home (cityfoundrystl.com)

Washington University: Washington University in St. Louis (wustl.edu)

The Post Sports Bar & Grill: Restaurant Bar & Grill in Maplewood and Creve Coeur - The Post (thepostsportsbar.com)

Dairy Queen: Dairy Queen®: Burgers, Blizzard® Treats & More. Happy Tastes Good®

Volunteering at the 2021 SLIFF

This past week, I worked three volunteer shifts in the 30th annual Whitaker St. Louis International Film Festival (SLIFF), which began on 6 November and runs until next Sunday (21 November).

My first shift was last Wednesday night (10 November), in the Winifred Moore Auditorium of Webster Hall at Webster University. The documentary "Chuck Connelly: Into the Light" ran that night, but there were only two paying customers. I watched the movie after making sure my volunteer work (handing out fan ballots and festival surveys to attendees). Too bad there were so few viewers, as I though this was a very interesting film about Connelly, a neo-expressionist painter who battled alcoholism and continued to work.

I was back at Webster University the following Saturday night (13 November) for my second shift. This time, there was a much larger crowd for a trio of French surrealist movies from the 1920s and early 1930s. This started with two short silent films, "An Andalusian Dog" and "The Seashell and the Clergyman." These films were accompanied by live music composed for these films and performed by The Rats & People Motion Picture Orchestra, a local group.  The night concluded with the 1930 feature "L'age d'or" (The Golden Age), a surrealistic classic directed by Luis Bunuel. These were some most interesting movies to watch, to put it mildly, but they and the orchestra did get my attention.

This afternoon, I was the Brown Hall of Washington University for a third shift. There were a handful of patrons for the documentary "And So I Stayed," which dealt with three New York State domestic violence survivors who served prison time for killing their abusers. It was difficult to watch at times, seeing these women failed by the criminal justice system, but not impossible to watch. The directors, Natalie Pattillo and Daniel A. Nelson, were on hand for the screening, and they fielded questions posted after the movie by Cinema St. Louis Executive Director Cliff Froehlich and audience members. I congratulated Pattillo and Nelson on their superb film, and thanked Froehlich for his and Cinema St. Louis' work. (Barry E. Albrecht, a member of Cinema St. Louis' Executive Committee, was the venue captain during my shift.)

My fourth and final scheduled volunteer shift is this Saturday afternoon (20 November) at the Tivoli in the Delmar Loop. SLIFF concludes one week from tonight.

Later.

Websites of Entities Mentioned in this Post:

St. Louis International Film Festival: St. Louis International Film Festival | Cinema St Louis

Webster University: Webster University | Homepage

The Rats & People Motion Picture Orchestra: The Rats and People Motion Picture Orchestra – Premiere Silent Film Accompaniment Ensemble

Washington University: Washington University in St. Louis (wustl.edu)

Cinema St. Louis: Cinema St Louis

Volunteering at 2019 SLIFF

Last Sunday morning (10 November), I went to the Brown School at Washington University of St. Louis (https://wustl.edu/) for my first volunteer stint at this year's Whittaker St. Louis International Film Festival (SLIFF) (https://www.cinemastlouis.org/festival-home). This marks my tenth year volunteering at this festival. On this day, I arrived by the Brown School's lecture hall to check in with the venue captain, and receive my SLIFF t-shirt, which I wore during my shift.

I helped pass out fan ballots and patron surveys to attendees before the movie was screened. Then, I was able to get a seat at the back of the hall to watch the film, a Brazilian/US documentary titled "Restless" ("Sem Descanso"). It looked at the 2014 killing in police custody of a young man from a poor neighborhood in Brazil. This film followed the efforts of the man's father and a newspaper to investigate what happened to the man and to find his remains for proper burial. This story is weaved with the killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri the same week. The film was most interesting and thought provoking regarding police brutality towards people of color and poverty.

After the film, there was a question-and-answer session with Chris King, editor of the St. Louis American (http://www.stlamerican.com/), who was interviewed in "Restless." As the audience filed out of the hall, I collected the ballots and surveys to bring to the venue captain. It was a fine start to SLIFF for me.

The following Wednesday afternoon (13 November) found me at the Plaza Frontenac Cinema (https://www.landmarktheatres.com/st-louis/plaza-frontenac-cinema/) for my second SLIFF volunteer shift. I stood outside the two theaters SLIFF was using to take tickets from attendees, while other volunteers passed out ballots and surveys. The Italian drama "Twin Flower" ("Fiore gemello") was playing in one of the theaters. I was tempted to watch it, but figured I was needed outside the theater in case more volunteers didn't show up. In the end, those volunteers did come and all was well. I did help collect ballots and surveys from the people who saw "Twin Flower."

I will do my third and final volunteer shift of this year's SLIFF tonight at Webster University (http://www.webster.edu/). The festival runs until tomorrow night. Hope to see you!

Later.

Volunteering at the 2018 SLIFF

This past week, I did four volunteer shifts at the 27th Annual St. Louis International Film Festival (SLIFF) (https://www.cinemastlouis.org/about-festival), which ends tonight. The first of those shifts was one week ago today (4 November) at Brown Hall on the Washington University (https://wustl.edu/) campus. I helped to hand out festival program, fan ballots, and festival patron surveys. The latter two items were collected after the film. That day, I saw two documentary features. First was "Letter from Masanjia," about an Oregon woman's discovery in some Chinese-made decorations she bought of a letter from a prisoner in a Chinese labor camp. This story soon went viral and China soon closed its labor camps. The film interviewed the prisoner who wrote the letter and follows his quest for freedom. Leon Lee, the director of "Letter from Masanjia," was present and spoke to the audience before and after the film.

Then, the documentary "Time for Ilhan" was screened. It told the story of Minneapolis, Minnesota resident Ilhan Omar's successful 2016 campaign for a seat in the Minnesota House of Representatives. She became the first Somali-American and Muslim-American woman elected to office. (Last Tuesday, Omar was elected to the US House of Representatives.) Norah Shapiro, director of this film, spoke before and after it was screened.

Wednesday night (7 November), after my off day from work, I headed to .ZACK (http://www.kranzbergartsfoundation.org/zack/) in the Grant Center Arts District (http://www.grandcenter.org) of Midtown St. Louis for my second shift. That night--after helping hand out ballots and surveys--I saw the narrative short film "Ashlock," which employed dance to help tell the true story of a troubled marriage in Missouri's Old Lead Belt. Then, it was the documentary feature "Bisbee '17." This told of how residents of Bisbee, Arizona--a small old mining town near the Mexican border--reinacted the Bisbee Deportation of 1917, in which 1200 immigrant miners were forcibly removed from town by a deputized force. The miners were put on cattle cars, sent to the New Mexico desert, and left to die. It was unusual for a documentary, in that there was no historic film of the Deportation used. The story was mainly told by the reinactors, several of whom were descendants of both the deported and the deporting force. Rather interesting. The film's director, Robert Greene, was present and spoke before and after the film.

After work on Friday night (9 November), I arrived at Plaza Frontenac Cinema (https://www.landmarktheatres.com/st-louis/plaza-frontenac-cinema) for my next shift. Myself and other volunteers were stationed outside the two auditoriums of the six-screen facility where SLIFF films were playing. After passing out ballots and surveys, I went inside one auditorium to see the Hungarian film "Eternal Winter" ("Orok tel"). This was based on the true story of Hungarian women of German origin who were seized by Soviet troops late in World War II and sent to labor camps in the Soviet Union and working in coal mines. A depressing tale for sure, but fascinating in seeing how one woman seeks to stay alive in the camp and mine with the help of a fellow internee.

Late this morning, I drove to The Stage at KDHX (http://kdhx.org/articles/16-inside-kdhx/964-the-stage-at-kdhx) in the Grand Center Arts District for my final volunteer shift of this year's SLIFF. The venue hosted a conversation with six directors making their first feature films. This event was part of the festival's New Filmmakers Forum (NFF), which includes five feature films (one co-directed by two people). Panelists and guests enjoyed free coffee and pastries before the filmmakers discussed their films and filmmaking in general. It was quite an interesting discussion, I thought.

After my shift ended, I treated myself to a light lunch of soup and ice cream at The Fountain on Locust (http://www.fountainonlocust.com/) before going home. SLIFF concludes tonight with the awards ceremony.

Later

Film Festival and Election Day

One week ago tonight (6 November) found me at Moore Auditorium of Webster Hall, Webster University (http://www.webster.edu/). It was my first volunteer stint at this year's St. Louis International Film Festival (SLIFF) (http://www.cinemastlouis.org/about-festival). I was an usher handing out fan ballots, SLIFF patron survey forms, and festival programs to audience members as they entered the theater. After the audience was taken care of, I could watch the movie, then collect the ballots and survey forms, and help tally up the audience votes. Last Sunday had a double feature, starting with the 2016 documentary "Long Live the King," about the enduring fascination with the 1933 classic film "King Kong." It was a very nice film, and was followed by some discussion lead by Tom Stockman, editor of We Are Movie Geeks (http://www.wearemoviegeeks.com/). Then, it was the second half of the bill, the aforementioned "King Kong," which I had not seen on a big screen with an audience before. It was thrilling as always.

My brother Rick and his family (wife Melissa, son Alex, and daughter Kate) had a fine time with my mom and me. More with my mom, since I was away at work and SLIFF much of the time they were there. They returned to Charleston on Tuesday. I was back at work on Monday.

After flexing out of work Tuesday afternoon (8 November), I drove to ROC Ministries (http://rocmin.com/) in Mehlville to cast my vote in the national election. I was most happy to do my patriotic duty. Most of my candidates and issues lost, and I will leave it at that.

I put in a full day of work Wednesday, then was back at St. Louis Community College at Meramec (http://www.stlcc.edu/MC/) for the Portuguese Language: Beginning II class. Our instructor Elizabeth from Viva Brasil Association of St. Louis (http://www.e.vivabrasilstl.org/home) guided us through more Portuguese, including numbers, months, and days of the week.

Off work Thursday (10 November), I got my hair cut by Great Clips (http://www.greatclips.com/) on South County Centerway in Mehlville. I met a friend for lunch at the St. Louis Bread Co. (https://www.panerabread.com/en-us/home.html), also on South County Centerway.

That afternoon, I was off to the Tivoli Theatre (https://www.landmarktheatres.com/st-louis/tivoli-theatre) for a SLIFF volunteer shift. I was outside the theater where a collection of five documentary short subjects with the theme of Valor. I did not see these films, but saw the stars and producers come into the adjourning theater for the US premier of the film "Drawing Home."

After my volunteer shift, I was off to the Plaza Frontenac Cinema (https://www.landmarktheatres.com/st-louis/plaza-frontenac-cinema) to watch a SLIFF film "Jules & Dolores (O Roubo da Taca)," a caper comedy from Brazil, which I enjoyed a lot.

I got off work a few minutes early on Friday, which was unusual, but welcome nevertheless. I did work at the rental branch yesterday morning, and that went very well.

I got a bit of a lunch while on my way from work to Brown Hall at Washington University (https://wustl.edu/). My SLIFF volunteer shift spanned the end of one narrative feature, "Phantom Boy," and all of the next one, "Heidi," a 2016 German/Swiss version of the long-time favorite children's story. I didn't see either film, as I was at my volunteer station just outside, but both were very well received by the audiences.

This morning found me at World Wide Technology Soccer Park (http://saintlouisfc.com/soccerpark) to officiate three Premier League under 12 girls matches. These were all nine-a-side, small field matches. I ran line on the first two matches before working the middle on the third match. All three went well.

After a shower and change of clothes at home, I went to my fourth and final SLIFF volunteer shift, at .ZACK (http://www.zack.events/) a new performing arts incubator in midtown St. Louis. I caught the tail end of the documentary "The Last Laugh," about comedians dealing with or avoiding the Holocaust. There was a break of some minutes, then we had one more documentary feature, "Tower," about the 1966 mass shooting at the University of Texas at Austin. I thought that was a terrific film. SLIFF is ending with its awards show as I write this; the results will be posted on the Cinema St. Louis website tomorrow (Monday), I would presume.

Later.