The 30^th Annual Whitaker St. Louis International Film Festival will feature several Israeli and Jewish-interest films, in a mix of in-person and virtual screenings, plus a special event. Proof of COVID-19 vaccination is required to attend and COVID procedures will be in place.  All the in-person screenings and the special event listed below take place at the Tivoli Theater, 6350 Delmar Blvd. in University City.

Special Event

A Tribute to Mary Strauss, with a screening of “Sunset Boulevard”

Nov. 21 at 3 p.m. Tivoli Theater, $25

The festival will honor local Jewish philanthropist Mary Strauss, whose many accomplishments include restoring the Fox Theatre and helping found SLIFF, with a Lifetime Achievement Award. The award presentation will be followed by a screening of her favorite film, “Sunset Boulevard.”

Narrative films

“Neighbours” (“Nachbarn”)

Tuesday, Nov. 9, at 7 p.m. and Wednesday, Nov. 10, at 4 p.m.

Switzerland, narrative, in Kurdish, Arabic and Hebrew with English subtitles

See review below.

“Ahed’s Knee” (“Ha’berech”)

Friday, Nov. 19, at 8:30 p.m. and Sunday, Nov. 21, at 3:30 p.m.

Israel, narrative, drama, in French, German and Hebrew with English subtitles

In Israeli writer/director Nadav Lapid’s drama, the jury prize winner at Cannes, a film director travels to small desert town in Israel for a showing of one of his films but is taken aback when he is asked to sign a government document restricting what he can say. The young woman asking him to sign is embarrassed by the censorship but insists, which prompts a searing critique, in a scene that can be hard to watch. The Israel-born auteur Lapid has long had a fraught relationship with the country of his birth, but those feelings are expressed more directly here, although softened in the end, in this gripping, thought-provoking drama.

“We Burn Like This”

Virtual Only, Available starting on Nov. 4

USA, narrative, drama, in English

A young woman who is a descendant of Holocaust survivors in Billings, Mont., finds a new understanding of their experience when she encounters hate first-hand.

Documentaries

“I Am Here”

Monday, Nov. 8, at 7 p.m.

South Africa, documentary, English, Hebrew and Yiddish with English subtitles

Holocaust-denier protests in Australia prompts a 98-year-old Holocaust survivor in South Africa to finally tell the amazing story of her survival and what she witnessed first-hand, while expressing both an irrepressible hope and even a compassion for those who deny the past.

“My So-Called Selfish Life”

Virtual Only, Available On Nov. 4

USA, documentary, English

A documentary about women choosing to be childless, from feminist Jewish filmmaker, Therese Shechter, past winner of the Best Film award at the Jewish Women’s Film Festival, NCJW/NY for her documentary “I Was a Teenaged Feminist.”

Short films (All Virtual Only)

All virtual only, available on Nov. 4

Doc Short: This Is Our Youth has one Israeli film – “The Promise”

Narrative Shorts: Animation 1 has two Israeli films – “Black Slide” & “Hypo-gravitation”

Narrative Shorts: Animation 2 has one Israeli film – “Baggage”

Narrative Shorts: Comedy 2 has one Israeli film – “While We Stayed Home”

Narrative Shorts: Experimental has one Israeli film – “In Her Image”

Narrative Shorts: Drama 3 has one U.S. film with Jewish themes – “Yasha’s Tapochki”

St. Louis International Film Festival

WHEN: Nov. 4-21

WHERE: In-person film screenings mainly at the Tivoli Theatre, with a few events at additional locations, as well as virtual screenings

HOW MUCH: Tickets for screenings, in-person or virtual, are $15, $11 for Cinema St. Louis members. Passes are also available. For tickets, passes, program and more information, visit the SLIFF website www.cinemastlouis.org/sliff/festival-home.

COVID-19 PROTOCOLS: SLIFF will require masks and proof of vaccination at in-person screenings. No concessions will be available at any of the venues to ensure audience members remain masked throughout films.