AIFF2019: Tuesday - St. Louis Ghosts, Fairbanks Founder, A Road Trip, and Creepy Shorts

The Ghost Who Walks is for St. Louis folks.

For St. Louis fans, this is done by a St. Louis native in St. Louis.  It's also fairly new (this year) and hasn't been seen by that many folks yet.   From St. Louis Magazine:

"Just as writer/director Cody Stokes’ career began to take off in New York City—meaning that he was traveling a lot—his first child was born. The St. Louis native began thinking about what it means to be gone and miss things back home, from his, his wife’s, and his child’s perspectives. He knew he wanted to make a film about it. But rather than create a simple kitchen sink drama about fatherhood, he set it in a world beyond, made it exciting, turned it into a crime thriller. “I wanted people to feel like they’re going to watch some sort of Liam Neeson movie but by the end be completely moved,” Stokes says. And he shot it in St. Louis, having moved back home with his family. The Ghost Who Walks screens as part of the St. Louis Filmmakers Showcase later this month."

Felix Pedro:  If One Could Imagine - Alaska history here.  From Ululate:

The documentary Felix Pedro ... If one could only imagine, tells the story of a man from the Bolognese Apennines, who was born in the mid-nineteenth century and his name was Felice Pedroni. This man flees the poverty, takes a ship to America, where he becomes Felix Pedro and in 1902 he discovered gold in a stream in Alaska founding subsequently the city of Fairbanks.
The story is told today on the trail of a search by Giorgio Comaschi, Claudio Busi and Massimo Turchi to build a show about the adventure of Felix Pedro.

Vanilla - A road trip.   Everything about a film is how it's carried off.  Here's a snippet from one reviewer who thought it went well:

"We have an odd couple on the road, so funny stuff happens – and this is a funny movie.  Naturally, the audience is waiting for the two to jump into bed together.  But Vanilla is fundamentally a portrait of these two people, both comfortable in their ruts.  Elliot is posing as an entrepreneur, and Kimmie is posing as a comedian-in-the-making; something is going to have to shake up these two so each can grow.  Kimmie seems utterly intrepid, but we learn that she can be paralyzed by self-consciousness, just like Elliot.
Vanilla is written and directed by its star, Will Dennis, in his first feature film.  It’s an impressive debut, rich in character-driven humor."

Late Night Chills - Shorts Program -  here's a link to the Festival Website for the shorts.