2021 St. Louis Int'l Film Festival

Master Class: A Conversation with Writer/Director Ryan Eslinger

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Stream began November 6, 2021 6:00 PM UTC
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The festival interviews multiple SLIFF alum Ryan Eslinger, who was born and raised in the St. Louis area, about his diverse career in film as a multi-hyphenate. Ryan’s debut film — made while he was still in school — was “Madness and Genius,” which starred Tom Noonan and was shot in 18 days on high-definition video for $20,000. Eslinger not only wrote, produced, and directed the film but also edited, created the sound design, and composed and performed the music. He cut the movie in his dorm room during his third and final year at NYU, finishing the sound in St. Louis after graduation. The film subsequently premiered at the Toronto Film Festival to glowing reviews. Since then, Ryan has toggled back and forth between films with high-profile stars — such as “When a Man Falls in the Forest” (with Sharon Stone, Timothy Hutton, and Dylan Baker) and “UFO” (with Gillian Anderson and David Strathairn) and more independent work such as the microbudgeted “Daniel and Abraham” and “Colorless Green.” His work has been featured at Berlin, Toronto, SLIFF, and other festivals. Ryan received the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Feature Film Prize and has been nominated for an Independent Spirit Award. He lives with his novelist wife, Jamie, and son, Taschen. Ryan serves on the jury for this year’s Essy Award, which honors the best St. Louis-related film in SLIFF.