News

Alumni Represent at STL Film Festival

The 19th annual St. Louis International Film Festival (SLIFF), one of the largest international film festivals in the Midwest, runs from November 11th through November 21st.  This year's event, with viewings at local theaters, and will feature films by Chris Hempstead ’91 and George Hickenlooper ’82.

Following is information about the films of Hempstead and Hickenlooper with summaries from the SLIFF program.

KREWS
Friday, Nov. 12, 7 p.m., Tivoli
Producer: Chris Hempstead '91
JUXTAPOSING THE SOPHISTICATED world of wireless global trading with the primitive world of inner-city drug trafficking, Krews is a roller coaster of a thriller. Things spiral out of control from the moment Peter (Jonathan Cake) picks up fellow high-tech con artist Henry (The Hurt Locker’s Brian Geraghty) at the airport, when a botched car-jacking forces the two white-collar criminals to take refuge in the home of the thugs who accosted them. Over the course of one explosive night, worlds collide, fortunes shift, and lives are cast aside. Nighttime in LA makes the perfect decadent setting for this cat-and-mouse adventure, a timely work that shows how the world’s economic crisis can leave two criminals knee-deep in bad luck. Hilbert Hakin took the Best Director prize at the indie-oriented Method Fest.

CASINO JACK
Thursady, Nov. 11, 8 p.m., Tivoli
Director: George Hickenlooper '82
ST. LOUISAN GEORGE Hickenlooper (Factory Girl) describes Casino Jack, his buzz-generating new film about lobbyist Jack Abramoff, as a black-comic story of white-collar thuggery: “It’s 'GoodFellas’ in Washington.” Two-time Academy Award® winner Kevin Spacey plays Abramoff, an unscrupulous lobbyist who connects lawmakers with big-money associates, and his energetic performance has prompted talk of a third Oscar®. Movieline raves: “This is the kind of role that made Spacey famous – all bulletproof self-confidence and simmering, satisfied menace; but while you may experience flashbacks to everything from Lex Luthor to ‘Glengarry Glen Ross’s’ weasely office manager, it’s a sublimely unsavory creation all its own.” Barry Pepper similarly excels as Abramoff’s partner in sleazy deal-making, and Jon Lovitz contributes a scene-stealing turn as a mob-connected mattress salesman.

Casino Jack was featured at the Toronto Film Festival in September.  Super, a feature film by James Gunn ’84, was also shown at the Toronto Film Festival.

CLICK HERE for ticket information to the SLIFF.