OUTCRY, Really Me, A Man With Sole, and more queer films featured at SLIFF 2025
Alongside the major studio projects, locally produced films and potential Oscar contenders at the 34th Annual Whitaker St. Louis International Film Festival (SLIFF) are a number of independent queer documentaries. Some have been screened at festivals as big as Sundance, others are just starting their festival run, but all are worthy of checking out this November.
Three, in particular, stand out:
A Man with Sole: The Impact of Kenneth Cole
Thursday, Nov. 6 at 7:30 pm
Hi-Pointe Theatre
SLIFF’s Opening Night film this year is “A Man with Sole: The Impact of Kenneth Cole.” Cole will attend the screening of the film, which has also shown at the Sundance, Tribeca and DOC NYC film festivals.
“A Man of Sole” gives an inside look at fashion designer and activist Kenneth Cole, whose brand and activism creates awareness for AIDS, LGBTQ+ rights, unhoused people, gun control and other human rights crises. Director Dori Berninstein covers Cole’s 40-year career, including his current fight to provide a voice for mental health awareness.
For Emmett Williams, festival curator for Cinema St. Louis, the documentary was an easy choice for the opening night film. “[Sole] captures so much of what SLIFF stands for—humanity, creativity, and the belief that individual stories can inspire collective change,” said festival curator Emmett Williams. “It’s a deeply moving film about purpose and empathy, and it reflects the heart of this year’s festival: people using their art, their work, and their voices to connect and uplift others.”
OUTCRY: Alchemists of Rage
Nov. 9, 3:30 pm
Platypus
After being well-received at an earlier St. Louis screening, Clare Major and Whitney Bradshaw’s “OUTCRY: Alchemists of Rage” will be shown again. Admission is free.
This film began as a photography gig at UC Berkeley, where Bradshaw invited local women and gender-nonconforming people to a group session. In front of a camera, Bradshaw would provide a space for them to let out screams of rage, joy, and sorrow. After being photographed mid-scream, the participants’ images would be used for Bradshaw’s art gallery.
Enamored and inspired by the project’s personal touch – along with Bradshaw’s ability to create a safe and intimate session for everyone to let out their emotions – Major broached the idea of filming these sessions and turning the footage into a documentary. Bradshaw not only agreed with her proposition, but expanded upon it.
The duo traveled across the US, filming multiple ‘scream sessions’ with participants of a variety of backgrounds, including a group of grassroots activists in Dayton, Ohio, who were fighting for enshrining reproductive rights for women in the Ohio constitution.
Her most personal project, Major says “OUTCRY” gave her an unexpected opportunity to craft something unique, her own way.
“I work primarily as a freelance cinematographer on other people’s documentary projects, so this film is special to me because I directed it and was able to really follow my creative vision,” Major said. “Even during that first scream session with Whitney at UC Berkeley, I could picture exactly how I wanted the film to look, and I was able to make that happen.”
Working as director/camera-operator/field-producer, Major covered two years – a big chapter of Bradshaw’s long-running project, a photography collection with over 500 participants that the artist would show in art galleries starting in 2018.
Acknowledging the sensitive topics explored throughout OUTCRY – including sexual abuse and an increasingly hostile political landscape for women – the filmmakers made sure to provide comfort and catharsis for their subjects. Bradshaw contacted her participants and allowed them to screen the sections of the documentary they were featured in, giving them the choice to be included or not.
“Consent is hugely important for both ‘OUTCRY’ itself and in this film,” Major said. “We wanted to make sure that — even though everyone who took part in a filmed scream session knew ahead of time that it would be filmed, had heard us explain our goals for the film, and had signed a release — each individual was actually comfortable with what was included in the final film. Bradshaw herself was deeply involved in the editing process, watching multiple cuts of the film and providing notes. “It was essential to me that she be comfortable with how her story and her art were presented,” said Major.
Read the rest of this article at Out in STL Magazine - https://outinstl.com/outcry-really-me-a-man-with-sole-and-more-queer-films-featured-at-sliff-2025/