Sidewalk Film Fest 2022 highlights
outside Alabama Theater on Friday Aug. 26, opening night of Sidewalk FF
I spent a few days in Birmingham AL last week to attend the Stowe Story Labs* and saw a ton of great stuff at the Sidewalk Film Festival (occurring at the same time). Wednesday through Saturday daytimes for me were filled with stuff at the Labs so screenings all in the evening. (The Festival officially started on Friday so anything seen prior was a Festival Spotlight, a designation that probably isn't germane to this post but I'm including it anyway.)
tues 8.23 flew in and checked in to my room. It was evening. Unpacked and walked over to the Sidewalk Cinema to see a block of Alabama-made shorts, narrative and documentary alike. The quality ranged but a couple were standouts (notably Vanderwaal's Journey and Love Without Parole) and my god, the Sidewalk Cinema, a subterranean two-screen outfit with snacks and full bar and Shining themed restrooms, was straight out of my dreams.
wed 8.24 Sidewalk Cinema. A Run For More, doc feature about the first trans woman to run for city council in San Antonio. A very compelling story and look at some of the obstacles she faced, both the tactical ones and the more sinister close-minded ones among her possible constituents.
thu 8.25 Sidewalk Cinema. Jasmine is a Star. narrative feature about a young woman in Minneapolis who won't let albinism prevent her dreams of being a model. Awesome on its merits but also as companion piece to the doc the night prior, both focused on people overcoming impossible odds to be their authentic self. this had the added bonus of being a movie I supported in crowdfunding several years ago and so I found my name in the credits. You should watch this.
fri 8.26 Alabama Theater Butterfly in the Sky. opening night for the Sidewalk Film Fest, movie about Levar Burton and the production and impact of Reading Rainbow was a joy and positive force in the world and we need more like that. Also, Alabama Theater is lovely and the opening-night energy was notable.
sat 8.27 Carver Theater 11:40a Our Father, the Devil. I had seen this movie on my iphone the day prior (b/c the director Ellie Foumbi was giving a Q & A to Stowe and we were all sent a link to watch beforehand) and was so in awe of the film that I had to see it on a bigger screen. Lucky for me it was playing the next day. The film is very amazing. Seek it out and see it theatrically. The performances and cinematography and score all work together to create an indelible cinematic ululation. pure joy for me
Carver Theater 4.30 Color of Care. I loved Strong Island by Yance Ford and was eager to see this, a feature documentary about disparity of healthcare among people of color. While parts were compelling (and enraging), the doc is produced by Oprah and has her appearing on screen no less than three times - beginning/middle/end - to comment on the events we are witnessing and to put it generously it was a detractor to the impact of the film.
Birmingham Museum of Art 7:30p The Integrity of Joseph Chambers. I really dug Killing of Two Lovers and when I saw this was at festival I knew I had to find it. The theater had some sound amplification issues at the start, maybe the first 10 minutes which was doubly unfortunate b/c the sound design of the film is very deliberate, beginning in a hushed domestic environment and all of us in the audience strained to make sense of the opening dialogue. Anyway. Still thinking about this film and it is worth your time for what is mostly a movie about a man in the woods pretending to be something he is not.
Sidewalk cinema 10:30p Genre Shorts block. a range of quality but some def. innovations and joys. Standouts for me were Free Noir Papillon and Cruise.
sun 8.28 10 am Sidewalk Cinema. Animated Shorts block. some standouts: Demi's Panic by Bill Plympton (written by my Stowe colleague Danny Leonard), Memento Mori, Five Cents, In the Mountains, and Prayer for my Mother: The Eva Brettler Story. All outstanding in different ways. After the animated shorts I left Sidewalk Cinema for the last time and took shuttle to airport. Very positive experience and already strategizing how to return next year for their 25th anniversary.
*the Stowe Story Labs are a 4 day enterprise for writers and directors and writer/directors to workshop their scripts and pitches and interact with peers and mentors. Very awesome and powerful but the subject for another entry.
