A total 250 films – from features to shorts, narratives to documentaries – are set to highlight the 18th Annual Sidewalk Film Festival, which will take place Aug. 26-28 in downtown Birmingham’s historic Theatre District.
“We are proud of our strong lineup and are excited to bring a diverse set of creative, engaging, thought-provoking, entertaining and eccentric work to film lovers across Alabama and throughout the Southeast,” said Chloe Cook, executive director of Sidewalk Film Festival.
This year’s lineup includes more than 67 feature films and 130 short films from 10 different countries.
“The 18th Sidewalk Film Festival has an incredibly diverse array of films this year. From animated films to music and dance to our more traditional narrative dramas, comedies, and "midnight" films, I'm excited about the variety of subject matter and filmmakers represented in this year's lineup,” Sidewalk Film Festival shorts programmer Jo Tribble said. “Showing the increased interest and quality of Alabama filmmaking, I'm especially excited about the 50 films we have involving Alabama based filmmakers, crew, or cast."
To develop the lineup, the team worked over several months to identify films reflective of the talent in independent film.
“For the last 9 months we have absolutely scoured the world for the very best of independent film and are super proud to announce the 2016 Sidewalk line-up,” Sidewalk Film Festival creative director Rachel Morgan said. “We believe the lack of sleep and overabundance of pizza has paid off!”
Full schedule details are available at https://sidewalk18.sched.org/.
Opening Night Film – IN A VALLEY OF VIOLENCE (2016)
Sidewalk will kick-off Friday, Aug. 26 at 8 p.m. at the Alabama Theatre, with the Opening Night feature film “In a Valley of Violence”
Directed by Ti West and Starring Ethan Hawke, John Travolta, Taissa Farmiga, Karen Gillan and James Ransone. West will be at the Sidewalk Opening Night event.
According to Focus Features, the film follows a mysterious drifter named Paul (Hawke) and his dog Abbie (Jumpy) as they make their way towards Mexico through the barren desert of the old west. In an attempt to shorten their journey, they cut through the center of a large valley and land in the forgotten town of Denton – a place dubbed by locals as a "valley of violence." The once popular mining town is nearly abandoned, and controlled by a brash group of misfits and nitwits – chief among them, the seemingly untouchable, Gilly (Ransone) who is the troublemaking son of the town’s unforgiving Marshal (Travolta). As tensions rise between Paul and Gilly, Denton’s remaining residents bear witness to an inevitable act of violence that starts a disastrous chain reaction, infecting the petty lives of all involved and
quickly drags the whole town into the bloody crosshairs of revenge. Mary-Anne (Farmiga) and Ellen (Gillan), two bickering sisters who run the town’s only hotel, try to find the good in both men, while desperately searching for their own salvation. Only the world-weary Marshal struggles to stop the violent hysteria, but after a gruesome discovery about Paul’s past…there is no stopping the escalation.
Closing Night Film – LITTLE SISTER (2016)
Sidewalk will conclude on Sunday night, Aug. 28 at 6 p.m. at the Alabama Theatre, with the feature film, “Little Sister”
Directed by Zach Clark and Starring Addison Timlin, Ally Sheedy, Keith Poulson, Peter Hedges, Kristin Slaysman, Molly Plunk and Barbara Crampton.
According to South by Southwest (where the film debuted), young nun Colleen is avoiding all contact from her family, until an email from her mother announces, “Your brother is home.” On returning to her childhood home in Asheville, NC, she finds her old room exactly how she left it: painted black and covered in goth/metal posters. Her parents are happy enough to see her, but unease and awkwardness abounds. Her brother is living as a recluse in the guesthouse since returning home from the Iraq war. During Colleen’s visit, tensions rise and fall with a little help from Halloween, pot cupcakes, and GWAR. Little Sister is a sad comedy about family – a
schmaltz-free, pathos-drenched, feel good movie for the little goth girl inside us all.
Narrative Features
- “Alabama Dirt” Director: Tom Stout
- “All the Birds Have Flown South” Directors: Joshua H. Miller, Miles B. Miller
- “Cheerleader” Director: Irving Franco
- “Donald Cried” Director: Kris Avedisian
- “Fiddlesticks” Director: Veit Helmer
- “First Girl I Loved” Director: Kerem Sanga
- “Fraud” Director: Dean Fleischer-Camp
- “Girl Asleep” Director: Rosemary Myers
- “Girl Flu” Director: Dorie Barton
- “Good Funk” Director: Adam Kritzer
- “Here Comes Rusty” Director: Tyler Russell
- “Hunter Gatherer” Director: Joshua Locy
- “In a Valley of Violence” Director: Ti West
- “Kate Plays Christine” Director: Robert Greene
- “Knowbull” Directors: Brandon A. McCall and Kerry Patton
- “Labyrinth” Director: Jim Henson
- “Little Men” Director: Ira Sachs
- “Little Sister” Director: Zach Clark
- “Long Nights, Short Mornings” Director: Chadd Harbold
- “MA” Director: Celia Rowlson-Hall
- “Miles” Directors: Joshua Miller and Miles Miller
- “Nigel & Oscar vs Sasquatch” Director: Drew Hall
- “Other People” Director: Chris Kelly
- “Rainbow Time” Director: Linas Philips
- “Service to Man” Directors: Aaron Greer and Seth Panitch
- “Slash” Director: Clay Liford
- “Space Jam” Director: Joe Pytka
- “Stay Hungry” Director: Bob Rafelson
- “Swiss Army Man” Directors: Daniel Kwon and Daniel Scheinert
- “The Arbalest” Director: Adam Pinney
- “The Fits” Director: Anna Rose Holmer
- “The Greasy Strangler” Director: Jim Hosking
- “The Love Witch” Director: Anna Biller
- “The Master Cleanse” Director: Bobby Miller
- “We’ve Forgotten More than We Ever Knew” Director: Thomas Woodrow
- “Women Who Kill” Director: Ingrid Jungermann
Documentary Feature
- “Actor Martinez” Directors: Nathan Silver and Mike Ott
- “Author: The JT LeRoy Story” Director: Jeff Feuerzeig
- “Beware the Slenderman” Director: Irene Taylor Brodsky
- “Breakfast at Ina’s” Director: Mercedes Kane
- “By the River” Director: Kevin Ford
- “Chicken People” Director: Nicole Lucas Haimes
- “Contemporary Color” Directors: Bill Ross IV and Turner Ross
- “De Palma” Director: Noah Baumbach and Jake Paltrow
- “Dead Hands Dig Deep” Director: Jai Love
- “First Lady of the Revolution” Director: Andrea Kalin
- “Gip” Director: Patrick Sheehan
- “Holy Hell” Director: William Francesco Allen
- “Hotel Dallas” Directors: Livia Ungur and Sherng-Lee Huang
- “Jackson” Director: Maisie Crow
- “KEDI” Director: Ceyda Torun
- “Lakeshore Villas” Director: Benjamin Fuqua
- “Off the Rails” Director: Adam Irving
- “Silicon Cowboys” Director: Jason Cohen
- “Skip Stones for Fudge” Directors: Ryan Seitz and Daniel Skaggs
- “Speed Sisters” Director: Amber Fares
- “Stand Up, Speak Out” Director: Jenna Bedsole
- “Suited” Director: Jason Benjamin
- “Syl Johnson: Any Way The Wind Blows” Director: Robert Hatch-Miller
- “The Curse of the Man Who Sees UFOs” Director: Justin Gaar
- “The Hollywood Shorties” Director: Ryan Steven Green
- “The Lost Arcade” Director: Kurt Vincent
- “The Pursuit of Hippo-ness” Director: Alana Franks
- “Tower” Director: Keith Maitland
- “Trials: Finding the Medal” Director: Daniel Koenig
Double Features
- “Raiders Double Feature: Raiders! The Story of the Greatest Fan Film Ever Made” Directors: Tim Skousen and Jeremy Coon
- “Raiders Double Feature: Raiders of the Lost Ark: The Adaptation” Director: Eric Zala
Alabama Shorts 1
- “Modern Romance” Director: Adam Schwartz
- “Jinxed” Director: Sam Eather
- “Sticky Note” Director: Parker Adams
- “Samantha Throws a Party” Director: John Wachs
- “Noah and the Band” Director: Chloe Jury-Fogel
- “Blackface” Director: Shanrica Evans
- “Convenience” Directors: Anna Quinlan, Isabel Farrington and Katherine Harrison
- “Aster and Sidney” Director: Sean Temple
Alabama Shorts 2
- “Pining: A Romantic Comedity” Director: Darrell Nance
- “Eyes of Victory Only” Director: Kevin Key and Malik Banks
- “Ignacio y Rosita” Director: Ian J. Cunningham
- “The Sibling Code” Director: Roberta Marie Munroe
- “The Yearning” Directors: Michael McFarland, Michael Green and Adam Boland
- “Chasing Kites” Director: Greyson A. Welch
- “And Now Makes Three” Director: Akil Buggs
- “Popsy” Director Director: David Merriman
- “To Live” Director: Benjamin Rand
- “Léa” Director: Connor Simpson
- “Game Night” Director: Sarah Heinss
Teen-Made Shorts
- “Soundtrack of My Life” Director: Kaylee Thomas
- “Door to Door” Director: Mady Dever
- “A Little Love Goes a Long Clay” Director: Juliet Buckholdt
- “Foretting” Director: Laura Hanson
- “Year of Plenty” Director: Natasha Lasky
- “Sleep” Director: Mary Aupperle
- “Quote Unquote” Directors: Noa Schwartz, Nicole Bahar and Joji Baratelli
- “The Big A” Director: Noah Somer
- “The Southern Social Order” Director: Ellie Stayner
- “Us & Us” Directors: Trey Carlisle, Cole Kawana, Sebastian Ko, and Jordan Seibel
- “Stealing Home” Directors: Justin Ciccone, Joe Levin and Michael Stokdyk
- “Love and Music” Directors: Sophia Dienstag, Ryan Finley and Sarah McAllister
- “Growing the Rose: Landmines in Cambodia” Directors: Milo Hensley and Sam McCabe
- “Tipping Scales: The Story of Lisa Jura” Directors: Justin Binder, Jordan Brown, Ty Goodrich, Ned Jacobs, Ryan Kim, Chloe Kuelbs, Matthew Steiglitz, Caleb Ullendorff, Savannah Weinstock
- “The Story of Three Rings: A Memoir of Dana Schwartz” Directors: Felix Audelo-Ruiz, Juli Freedman, Elly Hong, Carolina Martinez, Dora Schoenberg
- “One Day on Carver St.” Director: Azure Allen
- “Domar: To Tame” Director: Benjamin Ades
Teen-Made Horror/Thriller Shorts
- “Void” Director: Jamie Lipman
- “Follow Me” Director: Kaylee Thomas
- “Katharos” Director: Evan Obrien
- “Prism“ Director: Aidan Weaver
- “Le Couteau” Director: Zoe Miller
- “It’s Just a Game” Director: Morgan Evans
- “Ellie” Director: Morgana McKenzie
Episodic
“Cast Off” (2 episodes) Director: Elle Lipson
- Episode 1: Straight Outta Little Compton
- Episode 4: Viral
“Gunner Jackson” Director: Christian Strevy
“Subtle Adulthood with Red and Bangs” Director: Abigail Armstrong
- Episode 2: Insta-scam
“Breakfast in Bed” (3 episodes) Director: Kate Chamuris
- Episode 1: Best of Friends
- Episode 3: Yes Yes Yes
- Episode 6: Menage á
“Shipping Anonymous” Director: Courtney Brown
“Monster Girls” Director: Matthew Soson
Saturday Shorts: Creative Arts
- “Sing for Your Supper” Director: Mu Sun
- “Just a Song” Director: Gina Hirsch
- “Bliss Blue” Director: Elle Schneider
- “A Film by Vera Vaughn” Director: Sorrel Brae
- “The Long Song of M. Anderson Vincent” Director: Chen Gu
- “The Lot” Director: Russell Blanchard
- “Off Track Betty” Director: Clayton Dean Smith
Saturday Shorts: Generations
- “Madam Black” Director: Ivan Barge
- “Where You Are” Director: Graham Parkes
- “Cowboys” Director: Bernabé Rico
- “The Qualified Self” Director: Gleb Osatinski
- “Red Folder” Director: Ben Kallam
- “Winter Light” Director: Julian Higgins
- “Second Words” Director: Jake Hull
Saturday Shorts: Girl Power!
- “Hummingbird & Crane” Director: Veronica Rodriguez
- “People Are Becoming Clouds” Director: Marc Katz
- “Susie Sunshine” Director: Chelsea O’Connor
- “Dogsbody” Director: Josh Crockett
- “Dealing with Dana” Director: Nigel DeFriez
- “Video” Director: Randy Yang
- “The Mink Catcher” Director: Samantha Buck
- “Dog Bowl” Director: Gordy Hoffman
SHOUT Shorts
- “Bird of Prey” Director: Marion Hill
- “Sign” Director: Andrew Kennan-Bolger
- “Deep End” Director: Ruby Drake
- “First Night Out” Director: Will Mayo
- “Pronouns” Director: Michael Paulucci
- “Queen” Director: Lucas Omar
- “Why I’m Afraid” Director: Tanner Robbins
- “1985” Director: Yen Tan
- “Out in Alabama” Director: Bonnie Blue Edwards
- “Ending in Silence” Directors: Jo Badgett and Geena Marshall
Saturday Alabama Documentary Shorts
- “The Hand in the Truck” Director: Robert Clay
- “Hollis Treasures” Director: R. Todd Campbell
- “On the Horizon” Director: Lauren Musgrove
- “Seeding Fear” Director: Craig Jackson
- “Company Town” Directors: Amir Ahmed and Gina Sherman
- “Sharing the Secrets” Director: Drew Perlmutter
- “Blocked” Directors: Amber Pope and Suzanna Swanson
- “Eat White Dirt” Director: Adam Forrester
Saturday Family Shorts
- “Titanic Boy” Director: Andrew Reed
- “The Forgotten Treasure” Director: Tam Le
- “Angel Bird” Director: Elizabeth Russell
- “Let’s Catch a Movie” Director: Emma Penaz Eisner
- “Monty and the Runaway Furnace” Director: Joe Taranto
Kids Shorts Starring Kids
- “Goosebump Academy I” Director: LB Passey
- “Dog*Walk” Directors: Kristin Peterson and Jonathan Phillips
- “El Chévere” Director: Tony Reames
- “Mission Disconnect” Director: Lamar Sulaka
- “Goosebump Academy II” Director: LB Passey
Sunday Alabama Documentary Shorts
- “Ma’Cille’s (one of a kind ever) Museum” Directors: Gail Aronson and Grace Kyle
- “Self Portrait” Director: Jessica Chriesman
- “The New Orleans Sazarac” Director: James Martin
- “The Gospel of the Alabama Oyster” Director: Joe York
- “KNOWDOPE: The Documentary” Directors: Matthew Henton and Sarah Buckalew
- “Stay the Course” Director: Kayla Gladney
- “Demolition by Neglect” Directors: Kendall Roden and Kaitlin Buck
- “The Cells of Baldwin County” Director: Mindy Keeley
Sunday Documentary Shorts: Profiles
- “Bacon & God’s Wrath” Director: Sol Friedman
- “Oh My Father” Directors: Rodrigo Ojeda-Beck and Robert Macholan
- “The Hollerin’ Contest at Spivey’s Corner” Director: Brian Gertsen and Liv Dubendorf
- “The Boatman” Director: Zack Godshall
- “Chekhov” Director: Jack Dunphy
- “Pickle” Director: Amy Nicholson
- “Dangerous Curves” Director: Merete Mueller
- “Lift like a Girl” Director: Allie Sultan
- “The Dean Scream” Director: Bryan Storkel
Sunday Documentary Shorts: Journeys
- “Home at Dawn” Directors: Billy Silva and Guille Isa
- “The Shining Star of Losers Everywhere” Director: Mickey Duzyj
- “A House without Snakes” Director: Daniel Koehler
- “Awana” Directors: William Silva Reddington and Guille Isa
- “Saultopaul” Director: John Henry Summerour
- “I’m an Actor” Director: Aaron Greer
- “Greyhound” Director: Jack Truman
Sunday Shorts: In Search of Lost Time
- “Rehearsal” Director: Jennifer Silver
- “Vincent” Director: Tati Barrantes
- “Chameleon” Director: Reza Dahya
- “Little Sticker” Director: Michael Jackson Chaney
- “In Memory” Director: Robert Kribyson
- “Spider Veins” Director: Frank Mosley
- “Broke Dick Dog” Director GB Shannon
Sunday Shorts: Off the Beaten Path
- “Paper Harvest” Director: Matthew Weitz and Matt Petrunak
- “Check Surroundings for Safety” Director: Michael Arcos
- “Death$ in a $mall Town” Director: Mark Jones
- “Minor Steback” Director: Augustine Frizzell
- “Breaker Breaker” Director: Travis Bogosian
- “B O R N” Director: Ty Obsxura
- “It Has to Be You” Director: Conrad Rothbaum
- “The Expanded Universe” Director: Christopher Jason Bell
- “Killer” Director: Matt Kaman
Animated
- “Alex & Slyvia” Director: Christian Lachel
- “Golden Shot” Director: Gokalp Gonen
- “Tiny Power” Director: Chen Chang
- “The Killer Buzz” Director: Barry Jackson
- “Edmond” Director Nina Gantz
- “Glove” Directors: Alexa Lim Haas and Bernardo Britto
- “The Itching” Director: Dianne Bellino
- “The Magician” Director: Thom Lu
- “A Stones Throw Away” Director: Brian Ratigan
- “Work” Director: Cooper Haskell
- “Man of Action! II: Ashes of Vengeance” Director: MK12
Life and Liberty Shorts
- “The Champion” Directors: Patrick McGowan and Brett Garamella
- “More than Music Senegal” Director: Babacar Ndiaye
- “Black & White” Director: Ginnard Archibald
- “For the Children” Director: William Johnston-Carter and Danielle Bryant
- “GOOD WHITE PEOPLE” Directors: Jarrod Welling-Cann and Erick Stoll
- “Namibian Craft: the Unknown & the Outsiders” Director: Becky Beamer
- “Frame 394” Director: Rich Williamson
A Dark & Bloody Night Shorts
- “Gwilliam” Director: Brian Lonano
- “Pigskin” Director: Jake Hammond
- “Wan Mei” Director: Yiyi Yin
- “Night of the Slasher” Director: Shant Hamassian
- “Bloody Henry” Director: Jean-Paul DiSciscio
- “Babysitter Murders” Director: Ryan Spindell
After Dark Shorts
- “Quiz” Director: A.D. Schmidt
- “Claude” Director: Alan Mykitta
- “Empty Bed” Director: Brandt Shandera
- “Altschmerz” Director: Somica Spratley
- “Nosferratin” Director: Ann Kathleen Williams
- “Slow Creep” Director: Jim Hickcox
Music Videos: Mix Tape
- “Darth Punk: The Funk Awakens” Director: Brian Curtin
- “The Beat Goes On” Directors: Daz Wilson and Joe Walker
- “Addict” Director: Jason Hamric
- “She’s Long Gone (Steel City Jug Slammers)” Director: Jennifer West
- “Once Upon a Dream” Director: Eric Brown Thomas
- “Jesse Payne- Kitty Hawk” Director: Joe Walker
- “Mountain Side” Director: Uljmuren
- “Don’t Look Down” Director: Logan J. Freeman
- “Who Knows” Director: Kevin Key
- “Dr. Gypsy (by Epic Fail)” Directors: Michael James Wright and Ashley Fell
- “Daggers” Director: Je West
- “Caravan Palace – Lone Digger” Director: Double Ninja
- “Ride with You – Soren Bryce” Director: Devereux Milburn
- “Put it On” Directors: Robin Rains, Walter Nolan-Schmidt and Frank Thagard
Tickets to the three-day event can be purchased at SidewalkFest.com and are priced at:
- General Admission Weekend Passes – Through July 31 ($60); Aug. 1 – Aug. 21 ($70); Aug. 22 – Aug. 28 ($80)
- VIP Weekend Passes – Through July 31 ($225); Aug. 1 – Aug. 21 ($250); Aug. 22 – Aug. 28 ($275)
- General Admission Day Passes – Through July 31 ($25); Aug. 1 – Aug. 21 ($25); Aug. 22 – Aug. 28 ($30)
The three-day festival historically generates $1.5 million in economic impact and provides festivalgoers with viewing options at multiple venues, including both the historic Alabama and Lyric Theatres. This year’s festival will be title sponsored by Regions Bank.
Additional sponsors, event information and full film schedule/synopses can be accessed at SidewalkFest.com.
