tweet
shareFree programming has always been an essential part of the St. Louis International Film Festival.
34 free film programs are available, including 3 workshops and 5 shorts programs at Arkadin, the Julia Davis Library, the Contemporary Art Museum, the Saint Louis Art Museum, and Washington University.
Advance tickets are encouraged, as free programming often “sells out.” If a free program is marked as “sold out” online, you can still visit the venue and buy a ticket on-site if seats become available.
November 6, 2026
Hell on Hall Street
Directed by Ben Pfeiffer, Troy Jones
Hell on Hall Street documents the grassroots movement led by ArchCity Defenders to close and demolish St. Louis’s notorious Workhouse jail. Through firsthand testimony, archival footage, and movement strategy, the film transforms years of legal advocacy and community organizing into a feature-length documentary that balances emotional storytelling with systemic insight, positioning the project as both a historical record and a blueprint for change.
7:00 pm
Washington University’s Brown Hall Auditorium
November 7, 2026
SLIFF KIDS DOC SHORTS
SLIFF KIDS DOC SHORTS introduces kids of all ages to a diverse set of topics and films they...
10:30 am
Julia Davis Library
WORKSHOP – You CAN Have It All: The Rise of the Multi-Hyphenate Filmmaker
The idea that you must focus on a single discipline to achieve artistic success is officially dead. Today’s...
11:00 am
Hi-Pointe Theatre
Harvest
Directed by Hyacinth Parker, Natalie Baszile
Four brothers. One farm. A season that could change everything. HARVEST follows the Nelson brothers, fourth-generation farmers in rural Louisiana, as they fight to keep their family operation alive amid drought, equipment failures, rising costs, climate disasters, and mounting family tension. When an unexpected opportunity to expand arrives, the stakes become higher than ever.
12:00 pm
Julia Davis Library
Hoop Like This
Directed by Shubhangi Shekhar
Twelve players come together to form the world’s first professional Indian origin basketball team, risking their careers, reputation, and identity to redefine who belongs in the game.
12:00 pm
Washington University’s Brown Hall Auditorium
The Gleaners and I
Directed by Agnès Varda
Varda focuses her eye on gleaners: those who scour already-reaped fields for the odd potato or turnip. Her...
2:00 pm
Saint Louis Art Museum
Remedy And The Rhythm / Stories Are Living Things
Following the screening of director Jon Boogz’s Remedy and the Rhythm, audiences will be invited into SALT: Stories...
2:30 pm
Washington University’s Brown Hall Auditorium
Documentary Shorts 2 – Limbo
Highlighting the quiet dedication, hidden artistry, and personal sacrifices of master craftspeople and exiled individuals, LIMBO examines the delicate...
2:30 pm
Julia Davis Library
Cycle
Directed by Laura Dyan Kezman, William Howell
CYCLE pierces the silence surrounding police violence through the death of Ty’rese West, a Black teenager killed by police on Juneteenth without cameras, witnesses, or public scrutiny. The film maps police impunity through shifting official narratives, historical throughlines, and the human cost of pursuing justice within opaque systems of power, where silence endures, ultimately interrogating what it means to break cycles within our systems and ourselves.
5:00 pm
Washington University’s Brown Hall Auditorium
November 8, 2026
WORKSHOP – Gerry Rich & Chasing Hollywood: A Marketing Chief’s Lessons on Breaking Through
Join us for a panel featuring Gerry Rich, author of Chasing Hollywood, as he breaks down his journey...
11:00 am
Hi-Pointe Theatre
The Tiger Widows
Directed by Kaustuv Mukherjee
A documentary feature about human survival, resilience and hope against all odds in the perilous forests of “Sundarbans”, in Eastern India, facing severe threat from tigers as their homeland gradually sinks from ever-increasing climate change.
1:00 pm
Washington University’s Brown Hall Auditorium
Reading the World
Directed by Catherine Murphy, Iris de Oliveira
In 1963, global icon Paulo Freire led an experimental project teaching hundreds of rural farmers to read, write and vote in Brazil, until he was arrested and forced into exile during a U.S.-backed coup d'etat.
1:00 pm
Julia Davis Library
Kikuyu Land
Directed by Andrew H. Brown, Bea Wangondu
In Kenya’s tea highlands, one man’s claim to his family’s stolen land sets Mr. Mungai against a multinational giant. His fight draws a local news producer into a battle that exposes buried histories, her family secrets, and the unfinished business of colonial power.
3:00 pm
Julia Davis Library
Documentary Shorts 3 – Archive
Through the lens of preserved personal histories, letters, and rare recordings, ARCHIVE breathes new life into forgotten legacies and...
3:30 pm
Washington University’s Brown Hall Auditorium
Romare Bearden: A Life in Collage
Directed by Deborah Riley Draper
RB_SM_WIKI.1716__Pablo Picasso meeting with Rosanjin
6:30 pm
Washington University’s Brown Hall Auditorium
November 10, 2026
Every Line Becomes A Circle
Directed by Christopher Leete, Lynnette Luis, Ottilie Maters
Every Line Becomes A Circle is a powerful documentary about 94-year-old German artist Inge Besgen. Her life and art reflect how every experience and choice shapes who we become. Inge's story is one of resilience, creativity, and the belief that it's never too late to follow your dreams.
7:00 pm
Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis (CAM)
November 12, 2026
Rawstock
Washington University Libraries’ Film & Media Archive will project an assortment of decades-old educational films from its collection....
7:00 pm
Arkadin Cinema & Bar
November 13, 2026
Annie Turnbo Malone: The Untold Story
Directed by Kim Love
This documentary brings to life the remarkable story of Annie Turnbo Malone, the woman who launched an international health and beauty empire for African-American women that was headquartered in St. Louis from 1902-1930. She employed 75,000 agents around the world, one of whom was Madam C. J. Walker. She was an industrial titan whose impact was much like that of Bill Gates and Steve Jobs.
7:00 pm
Washington University’s Brown Hall Auditorium
November 14, 2026
WORKSHOP – Missouri Stories Scriptwriting Fellowship Alumni Panel
Moderated by Missouri Film Office Director Andrea Sporcic Klund. Come meet St. Louis based Missouri Stories fellowship winners....
11:00 am
Hi-Pointe Theatre
The Life We Leave / Worldless
The Life We Leave An ambitious entrepreneur and two funeral directors pioneer a groundbreaking eco-friendly deathcare facility in...
11:30 am
Washington University’s Brown Hall Auditorium
Documentary Shorts 5 – Witness
Bearing testimony to historical tragedy, political resistance, and community survival, WITNESS documents the courage of those who refuse to...
12:00 pm
Julia Davis Library
The Great Experiment
Directed by Eric Daniel Metzgar, Stephen T. Maing
The Great Experiment is an ambitious cinematic time capsule of one of the most volatile and perplexing eras...
2:00 pm
Washington University’s Brown Hall Auditorium
Séraphine
Directed by Martin Provost
The tragic story of French naïve painter Séraphine Louis aka Séraphine de Senlis (1864-1942), a humble servant who...
2:00 pm
Saint Louis Art Museum
While You Return / Who Trains My Hands To War
When You Return A woman in exile fights to free her husband, a political prisoner in Nicaragua, while...
3:00 pm
Julia Davis Library
The Lorraine
Directed by Sam Pollard
Renowned documentarian Sam Pollard tells the astonishing, inspiring story of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, site of...
4:30 pm
Washington University’s Brown Hall Auditorium
4000 Days
Directed by Daniel Catullo
4000 Days is a powerful documentary chronicling the relentless fight of three families who turned their personal tragedies into a nationwide movement for change. After losing their sons to fraternity hazing, the families found themselves up against a deeply entrenched system that thrived on secrecy, denial, and silence. Refusing to accept that their children died in vain, they joined forces and waged a years-long battle to expose the dangers of hazing, challenge university and fraternity accountability, and push for sweeping legislative reform.
7:00 pm
Washington University’s Brown Hall Auditorium
November 15, 2026
Narrative Shorts 6 – Desire
Driven by obsession, deep-seated longings, and the search for connection, DESIRE dives into the raw emotional hungers that compel...
1:00 pm
Washington University’s Brown Hall Auditorium
Documentary Shorts 7 – Noise
Centering on authentic lived experiences and self-expression, NOISE amplifies powerful stories about finding one’s voice in a complicated world.
1:15 pm
Julia Davis Library
C.R.E.A.M.
Directed by Ryen McPherson
A modern-day adaptation of Shakespeare's "Romeo & Juliet" told entirely through lyrics sourced from over 700 Wu-Tang Clan songs. "C.R.E.A.M." is the first film with to be created with 100% lyrical driven dialogue and stands as a tribute to the greatest hip-hop group in history as well as a testament to the creative mind and spirit as we collectively battle the rise and threat of Artificial Intelligence.
3:45 pm
Julia Davis Library
Dust
Directed by Swisyzinna
Dust explores how one tragic event reverberates through the lives of several people across generations. When a young woman, Nia, learns that her family history includes a lynching, she embarks on a journey of self-discovery and purpose. It is a story of hope, triumph and healing through new relationships and unlikely alliances.
4:00 pm
Washington University’s Brown Hall Auditorium
