The 32nd Annual Whitaker St. Louis International Film Festival (SLIFF) which ran from November 9 to 19, 2023 awarded four accomplished filmmakers for their contributions to the world of cinema and announced the winners of the juried competition and audience-choice awards.

Kemba directed by Kelley Kali won Best Film in Best of Fest Audience Choice Awards, with Mother directed by Zornitsa Sophia winning Best International Film and Your Fat Friend directed by Jeanie Finlay won Leon Award for Best Documentary Film.

Kemba is based on the true story of Kemba Smith, a college student falls in love with a man, only to learn later that he is a drug kingpin who led her down a path of abuse and manipulation, placing her in the middle of the government’s war on drugs.

The festival curated an impressive selection of 275 films, spanning a diverse tapestry of cinematic artistry. These included 49 insightful documentary features, 53 enchanting narrative features, and a staggering 170 shorts competing in the prestigious Oscar-sanctioned Shorts competition, offering bite-sized glimpses into the boundless creativity of filmmakers.

A standout achievement was the ninth edition of the Race in America: the Black Experience spotlight, featuring 29 inspiring film programs that delved into the multifaceted and often challenging racial experiences across the United States and beyond.

The festival awarded four accomplished filmmakers for their contributions to the world of cinema:

• Alexander Payne, Lifetime Achievement Award: has made eight feature films — “Citizen Ruth,” “Election,” “About Schmidt,” “Sideways,” “The Descendants,” which screened at SLIFF “Nebraska,” “Downsizing,” and his newest, “The Holdovers,” which also screened at SLIFF. Election co-starred the late Jessica Campbell, who grew up in Webster Groves. His films have been nominated for a total of 19 Oscars – including three times each for Best Picture and Best Director. He has won twice for Best Adapted Screenplay.

• Barbara Kopple, Lifetime Achievement Award: a New York-based Director, Producer, and founder of the production company Cabin Creek Films. Over her prolific career, Barbara has worked on documentaries, scripted films, episodic television, and commercials. She is a two-time Academy Award Winner for “Harlan County, USA” and “American Dream,” both of which won Best Documentary Feature. Her most recent documentary, “The Gumbo Coalition,” screened at SLIFF.

• Rick Goldsmith, Lifetime Achievement Award: a San Francisco Bay Area filmmaker who has been making documentaries for four decades. “Stripped for Parts: American Journalism on the Brink” is the third of his trilogy of films focusing on journalism and screened at SLIFF, following “Tell the Truth and Run: George Seldes and the American Press” and “The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers,” both Academy Award nominees for Best Documentary Feature and numerous other awards.

• Signe Baumane, Women in Film Award: a Latvian-born, Brooklyn-based independent filmmaker, artist, writer, and animator. She has made 17 award-winning animated shorts but is best known for her first animated feature, “Rocks in My Pockets.” Her latest film, “My Love Affair with Marriage,” screened at SLIFF.

The following juried competition and audience-choice awards were presented:

Shorts Awards

• Best Documentary Short – “Earthbound: Nzambi Matee,” directed by Farhoud Meybodi
• Documentary Short Honorable Mention – “Trinkhalle,” directed by Alexa Ramthun
• Best Short Short – “Fár,” directed by Gunnur Martinsdóttir Schlüter
• Best International Short – “Al Niente,” directed by Lo Lam
• Best Local Short – “Shadow Work,” directed by Lorenzo Bradford
• Best Live Action Short – “In the Garden of Tulips,” directed by Julia Elihu
• Best Animated Animated – “A Kind of Testament,” directed by Stephen Vuillemin
• Best Of Fest – “27,” directed by Flora Anna Buda

St. Louis Film Critics Association Joe Pollack and Joe Williams Awards

In conjunction with the St. Louis Film Critics organization, SLIFF holds juried competitions for documentary and narrative features. The awards honor the late St. Louis Post-Dispatch critics Joe Pollack (narrative) and Joe Williams (documentary). The winners are picked by two juries composed of St. Louis film critics. SLIFF chose eight films to compete in each category.

• The Joe Williams Best Documentary Feature: “Chasing Chasing Amy,” directed by Sav Rodgers
• The Joe Pollack Best Narrative Feature: “Robot Dreams,” directed by Pablo Berger

New Filmmakers Forum Emerging Director Award (The Bobbie)

Sponsored by the Holmes, Radford, and Reynolds

The New Filmmakers Forum (NFF) annually presents the Emerging Director Award. Since its inception, NFF was co-curated by Bobbie Lautenschlager. Bobbie died in the summer of 2012, and SLIFF honors her memory by nicknaming the NFF Emerging Director Award, The Bobbie. Five works by first-time feature filmmakers competed for the prize, which includes a $500 cash award.

• The Bobbie Award: “Tokyo Cowboy,” directed by Marc Marriott

Spotlight on Inspiration Documentary Award

Sponsored by the Albrecht Family

This juried competition awards a $5,000 prize to a feature documentary that focuses on people working to make the world a better place, and that inspires audience members and leaves them with a sense of hope for the future.

• The Spotlight on Inspiration Documentary Award: “Into the Spotlight,” directed by Thaddeus D. Matula

Best of Fest Audience Choice Awards

• Best International Film – “Mother,” directed by Zornitsa Sophia
• Leon Award for Best Documentary Film – “Your Fat Friend,” directed by Jeanie Finlay
• Best Film – “Kemba,” directed by Kelley Kali