The St. Louis Film Festival kicked off last night at The Tivoli in The Delmar Loop with the world premiere of "Bad Grandmas." The St. Louis-shot comedy by co-writer/director Srikant Chellappa and co-writer Jack Snyder, was the last film Florence Henderson starred in before she passed away last year. The screening was sold out. One of the other lead actresses, Pam Grier, was in attendance with the rest of the cast. She will receive the Women in Film Award this evening at a screening of "Jackie Brown."

Friday, Nov. 3 at 8:00pm Tivoli Theatre

Jackie Brown: As part of SLIFF’s “Tribute to Pam Grier,” the fest screens Quentin Tarantino’s “Jackie Brown,” which itself serves as a loving homage to the actress. A faithful adaptation of the 1992 Elmore Leonard crime novel “Rum Punch,” “Jackie Brown” details the efforts of aging, luckless stewardess Jackie (Grier) as she attempts to wriggle free from her uncomfortable position between gun runner Ordell Robbie (Samuel L. Jackson), for whom she moonlights as a money mule carrying cash from Mexico to LA, and ATF agent Ray Nicolette (Michael Keaton), who catches her in mid-transport. With the help of her smitten bail bondsman, Max Cherry (Robert Forster), Jackie endeavors not only to escape both the jail term threatened by Ray and the sure death for potential betrayal promised by Ordell but also to steal $500,000. Entertainment Weekly’s Owen Gleiberman says of the SLIFF honoree: “Pam Grier looks marvelous, with her diamond eyes and sexy half sneer, and ... she is, as always, a commanding actress; she blends street smarts and melancholy the way she used to blend street smarts and Amazonian hauteur.”

More about "Bad Grandmas:"

The writer/director team is behind such polished productions as “Ghost Image” and “Fatal Call,” which were based locally but played nationally and internationally. “Bad Grandmas” recounts the felonious misadventures of senior citizens Mimi (Henderson), Coralee (Grier), Bobbi (Susie Wall), and Virginia (Sally Eaton). With both a police detective (Randall Batinkoff) and a criminal (Judge Reinhold of “Beverly Hills Cop”) in pursuit of the quartet, the situation appears grim, but these bad grandmas are no ordinary women. 

More on SLIFF:

The usual array of fest buzz films and Oscar contenders include “The Ballad of Lefty Brown,” “Call Me by Your Name,” “Darkest Hour,” “Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool,” “Last Flag Flying,” “The Leisure Seeker,” “My Friend Dahmer,” “Thoroughbreds,” and “Walking Out.”

Please visit cinemastlouis.org for the full schedule. The film festival runs through November 12.