SLIFF #1: Documentary Films Offer Views of the World

The 29th Annual Whitaker St. Louis International Film Festival, entirely virtual, runs through Sunday, November 22nd. While twenty features and six master classes have limited time availability, as do the opening and closing events, the overwhelming majority of the one hundred forty one films and programs may be accessed throughout the festival by Missouri and Illinois residents at viewers’ leisure.

Here I highlight several feature-length documentaries, beginning with “The Mole Agent.” This charming, amusing spy story finds eighty-three-year-old Sergio infiltrating a Chilean nursing home. His mission to assess the quality of care or neglect uncovers the unexpected through the delightful residents who have secrets of their own.

For Frank Zappa fans, “Zappa” chronicles in depth this ground-breaking, self-assured, iconic musician. Director Alex Winter, from St. Louis, gained access to Zappa’s personal vault containing hundreds of recordings, home movies, and videotapes. For just over two hours the documentary “Zappa” explores his ideas through his own comments and those of relatives, friends, and admirers. Surprisingly, he says, early on he didn’t have much interest in music, more fascinated making gunpowder at age 6 when his father worked at the Redwood Arsenal. That changed to produce the legacy detailed here.

In a quick 70 minutes, Joseph Puleo’s “America’s Last Little Italy: The Hill” honors that celebrated St. Louis neighborhood, filling in its expansive history and major events right up to today. Rich with informative interviews with long-time residents, fascinating archival footage and photographs, this masterfully edited documentary highlights uplifting community spirit.

“The Oratorio” takes the viewer to another Little Italy, in New York, for the restaging of an 1826 concert at the Basilica of St. Patrick Old Cathedral, Marty Scorsese’s childhood church. He leads us into the church as he and others praise Italian opera’s New York debut, detail the original event, and lead up to its reenactment.    

“Queen of Hearts: Audrey Flack” profiles this impressive painter who studied with and knew some of the twentieth century’s great artists. Flack’s charismatic personality and insightful observations illuminate the evolution of her own art and of others. This barely scratches the surface of the documentaries on offer. For more complete information, you may go to the Cinema St. Louis website.