ACES and its auxiliary affinity groups are hosting an educational film festival that began yesterday and will continue through Nov. 11. St. Louis U. High will be taking advantage of the program Cinema for Students, which is part of the St. Louis International Film Festival; each affinity group chose a film associated with its focus. 

  SLUH has been collaborating with Cinema St. Louis for 10 years, with the help of Co-Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Frank Kovarik. The program is open to all schools and SLUH has found a way to use the festival as a social justice event hosted by its affinity groups. 

“The film festival is a chance to leverage the Cinema for Students program and to bring the St. Louis International Film Festival into our school building and give students a chance to encounter movies that will expand their horizons and give them some insights into some of the issues and concerns of the affinity groups like ACES,” said Frank Kovarik, Co-Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. 

Spearheaded by Anti-Racist Coalition moderator Kate Toussaint, the festival will take place in the Currigan Room during Activity Periods and Studium periods from Nov. 3 through Nov. 11.

Toussaint was pivotal in coordinating the film screenings, especially in terms of figuring out the technology. Many club leaders have been working to advertise the films. 

“Essentially, I think the goal of (SLUH’s) film festival is to let the viewers kind of imagine another's life and kind of really get into that and feel what they're feeling and empathize with someone else,” said Toussaint. 

Here is the lineup of films that will be shown:

11/3 — 80 Years Later.  Thanks to the Asian Student Alliance Affinity group, curious students can watch a multigenerational conversation about the experiences of World War II Japanese internment camp survivors and how they and their families have dealt with them.

11/4 — Race to be Human. The Anti-Racist Coalition is sponsoring the film Race to be Human—a 46-minute documentary short style film. The film addresses the effect racism has on everyone’s mental health, especially from a school perspective: looking through the lens of students, experts, and educators. The film features many smaller stories and weaves them together to create a plan of attack to ambush our subliminal biases and racist notions to inspire change. 

11/8 — The Exchange. The film shows the effects a radical 1966 proposition had on its community.  Two Wisconsin high schools “exchanged” black and white students during the Civil Rights Movement.  The exchange participants lived in each other's houses and attended each other’s schools.

11/9 — The Invitation. After observing that African Americans in their society are not readily able to vote, access equal education, or experience fair treatment in their lives, the film’s subjects  are inspired to spark change for these people. This film is hosted by the One World Club.

11/10 — Home is Somewhere Else. Home is Somewhere Else, chosen by Hispanos y Latinos Unidos (HYLU), features a storyline from an immigrant point of view, and shows what is like to try and live the American Dream in the shoes of an undocumented dreamer. 

11/11 — Girl Talk. This movie, directed by Lucia Small, is sponsored by SLUH for Gender Equality, (SLUH4GE). Girl Talk features five female elite debate team members who strive to be the national champions and face predominantly male opponents. 

Any student who attends more than two film festival days will have a chance to win a special prize, courtesy of Toussaint. 

Kovarik is proud of how the event has grown this year. 

“I'm very proud of the way that it's developed and evolved since the first film we did, which I think was at least 10 years ago as I recall. What I like about this year is it's really broadening and telling many different types of stories. So I think it's a testament to how our affinity groups and how ACES has become multifaceted, and given kind of representation to a broader range of students,” said Kovarik.

Senior Elijah Oden agreed. 

“I am proud because I have been here for four years; it just shows the progression. My freshman, sophomore, junior year, we didn't have anything like this. So even just showing the constant representation of these affinity groups, it’s progress,” said Oden.