28th Annual Whitaker St. Louis International Film Festival award winners and attendance results

ST. LOUIS - EntSun -- The 28th Annual Whitaker St. Louis International Film Festival (SLIFF), which kicked off on Nov. 7, concluded on Nov. 17. Total attendance was 26,329, including approximately 10,000 St. Louis-area students (some schools participating in our Cinema for Students program have not yet reported numbers).

SLIFF screened 389 films in 214 public programs: 81 narrative features, 63 documentary features, 227 shorts, and 18 film programs exclusive to Cinema for Students. The fest also featured 12 special-event programs, including four master classes and our closing-night awards presentation. This year's festival had 63 countries represented.

The festival honored a trio of significant film figures with our annual awards. St. Louis natives Josh Aronson, an Oscar-nominated documentary director for "Sound and Fury," and Brad Schiff, the animation supervisor for LAIKA Studios and Oscar nominee for "Kubo and the Two Strings," each received our Charles Guggenheim Cinema St. Louis Award, and Oscar-nominated director/producer Lisa Cortés ("Precious," "The Remix," "The Apollo") received our Women in Film Award. SLIFF also presented longtime donor and SLIFF supporter Marcia K. Harris with a Lifetime Achievement Award.

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SLIFF announced the winners of its juried and audience-award competitions at the closing-night party at Tivoli on the evening of Nov. 17. The following awards were presented:

Shorts Awards

• Best Documentary Short: "Charon" directed by Cullen Parr
• Best Local Short: "St. Louis Superman" directed by Sami Khan & Smriti Mundhra
• Best Short Short: "Grab My Hand: A Letter to My Dad" directed by Camrus Johnson & Pedro Piccinini
• Best International Short: "Winter in the Rainforest" directed by Anu-Laura Tuttelberg
• Best Animated Short: "Two" directed by Emre Okten
• Best Live-Action Short: "Miller & Son" directed by Asher Jelinsky
• Best of Fest: "The Neighbor's Window" directed by Marshall Curry

Interfaith Awards

• Best Documentary Feature:  "Objector" directed by Molly Stuart
• Best Narrative Feature: "Cold November" directed by Ismet Sijarina

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

• Best Documentary Feature: "We Believe in Dinosaurs" directed by Clayton Brown & Monica Long Ross

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• Best Narrative Feature: "Sorry We Missed You" directed by Ken Loach

New Filmmakers Forum Emerging Director Award (The Bobbie)

• "Princess of the Row" directed by Van Maximilian Carlson

Spotlight on Inspiration Documentary Award

• "My Name Is Pedro" directed by Lillian LaSalle

Best of Fest Audience Choice Awards

2019 winners:

• Leon Award for Best Documentary Film: "Objector" directed by Molly Stuart
• TV5MONDE Award for Best International Film: "Balloon" directed by Michael Herbig
• Best Film: "Just Mercy" directed by Destin Daniel Cretton

More info: https://cinemastlouis.org/sliff/festival-films