Max Havey

The St. Louis International Film Festival is turning 35, and this year’s festival, which runs from November 5-15, is a celebration of the spirit of independent film. This year’s festival theme is “The Declaration of Independents,” which Emmett Williams, Cinema St. Louis’ director of festival curation and education, says underscores the independent spirit that has been central to the festival’s ethos since it started in 1992.

It’s possible you don’t know Drunks With Guns by name, but their sludgy and noisy sound undoubtedly influenced some of the great grunge and rock bands of the ‘90s. From the mouth of Michael Doskocil, the band’s singer, the story of the band almost feels stranger than fiction. The original iteration of the band formed in Crestwood in 1984 and broke up in 1987. That lineup only played four shows, including opening for 45 Grave and Samhain, Glenn Danzig’s post-Misfits band.

A new documentary seeks to capture the beauty and importance of former Missouri railways that have received a second life as bike trails. The film, The Trail State, will have its St. Louis premiere at the St. Louis History Museum (formerly the Missouri History Museum) on September 22 before airing on Nine PBS in October. The film focuses on the Katy Trail, the 240-mile rail-trail that used to be home to the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad and runs from Clinton to Machens, Missouri.