A special night of food and film will honor Cinema St. Louis artistic director, Chris Clark, who has been with the organization for two decades.
Presented by Cinema St. Louis and Tenacious Eats, the evening begins with a silent auction and cocktails, followed by a five-course dinner, screening of the film “Dinner Rush (more on that later)” and a live auction.
Clark has been an integral part of the growth and artistic direction of CSL’s premier event, the St. Louis International Film Festival. Drawing on his background in film studies at Webster University and public event coordination, he has been instrumental in the initiating and production of the Saint Louis Filmmakers Showcase and QFest. He has earned the title of one of the top North American festival directors and programmers by Film Festival Today magazine.
You might ask yourself, “Why the film, “Dinner Rush,” after dinner?”
This movie holds a special place in Clark’s heart, as his first film secured through the Telluride Film Festival. And it was SLIFF’s audience choice award winner that year, 20 festivals ago, in 2000.
Directed by Bob Giraldi, and running 99 minutes, “Dinner Rush” goes a little like this:
One unlucky evening, Louis Cropa (Danny Aiello), a part-time bookmaker, discovers that his restaurant has become a hotbed of conflicting characters. In addition to having to please a whiny food critic (Sandra Bernhard), Louis must fend off a hostile takeover from a pair of gangsters (Michael McGlone), to whom his sous-chef (Kirk Acevedo) is in debt.
Now in its 27th year, Cinema St. Louis presents five annual events and co-presents additional film-related programming during the year.
CSL’s mission is to showcase the best in international, documentary, and American independent cinema. Believing that we discover something about ourselves when we learn about others’ cultures and perspectives, Cinema St. Louis offers programs that provide glimpses of the human experience from around the world and thoughtfully address issues of race, ethnicity and sexual identity.
The St. Louis International Film Festival, held in November, presents the finest in recent international, American independent, and documentary film. As part of SLIFF, CSL presents the annual Georgia Frontiere Cinema for Students Program, which offers free screenings (both at venues and in schools) to St. Louis-area elementary, middle and high schools.
Since 2002, CSL has annually presented the multi-day St. Louis Filmmakers Showcase in July, which highlights work made by filmmakers with St. Louis roots.
In 2010, CSL added the LGBTQ-focused QFest to its annual lineup (CSL co-presented QFest during the two previous years). QFest takes place in April.
“What a Rush” begins at 6 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 14, at the Mad Art Gallery, 2727 S. 12th St., St. Louis, MO 63118. Emceed by James Enstall, the live auctioneer will be Guy Phillips of The Guy Phillips Show on The Big 550 KTRS. DJ is Rob Levy. Attire is “New York Black/Creative Cocktail.”
Individual tickets are $125. VIP tables of six are $1,000. Parking is complimentary. To purchase tickets, contact Bree Maniscalco at (314)289-4154 or bree@cinemastlouis.org. For more information, visit cinemastlouis.org/what-rush-20-years-with-chris-clark.
