18th Annual Sidewalk Film Festival

Modern Romance
Director: Adam Schwartz
Run Time: 2
USA
Dating isn't what it used to be, thanks to apps like Tinder, Snapchat, and Facebook.

Jinxed
Director: Sam Eather
Run Time: 14
Australia
Jason is jinxed when it comes to dating. Attending a party, he quickly discovers just how disastrously hilarious his jinx can be.

Sticky Note
Director: Parker Adams
Run Time: 5
USA
When several of his co-workers are laid off, a man grows paranoid that he's next on the chopping block.

Samantha Throws a Party
Director: John Wachs
Run Time: 4
USA
A woman struggling to prepare for a dinner party is interrupted by something unexpected.

Noah and the Band
Director: Chloe Jury-Fogel
Run Time: 18
USA
A young folk-rock singer gains custody of her 6-year-old nephew as she's about to embark on tour.

Blackface
Director: Shanrica Evans
Run Time: 12
USA
Blackface/minstrel actor Henry Roberts becomes the victim of a hate crime in his small southern town due to a tragic case of mistaken identity.

Convenience
Directors: Anna Quinlan, Isabel Farrington and Katherine Harrison
Run Time: 20
USA
We follow Sunita, the owner of a New York bodega, through the course of one day as she encounters a pair of spurned twin souls in the morning, a mother and daughter at odds in the afternoon and a group of reckless lovesick teenagers at midnight.

Aster and Sidney
Director: Sean Temple
Run ime: 20
USA
After the collapse of society, a secret threatens to destroy two women's relationship.

This film is a part of the Life & Liberty Sidebar sponsored by EBSCO.

This screening is sponsored by Birmingham-Southern College.

This film plays out like a fairy tale; a young Alabaman woman falls in love with a
Costa Rican man while visiting family. The small twist is that this man would later
foment a revolution in his home county and face years of exile. However,
Henrietta Boggs is not the “helpless Southern belle” in this story, she’s a fiery,
intelligent young woman. She plays an active role, doing what she can to shape
the political upheaval and subsequent reform in a country that she considers a
second home. Henrietta currently quietly resides in Montgomery, Alabama.
- Kate Michel

This screening is sponsored by Green Again.

In this Alabama-shot comedy, perpetually broke Dicky St. John, proprietor of a
failing Mobile greyhound track, makes a desperate bet with his sleazy used car
dealer brother-in- law, Mak Hoffstadt, to save his business. The fates of both the
track and car lot hinge on the outcome of one big dog race. But little does Dicky
know, Mak has hired a pair of ne’er-do- wells and is stacking the deck with dirty
tricks to ensure his victory.
- Corey Craft

The Hand in the Trunk
Director: Robert Clay
Run Time: 5
USA
In 1979, Birmingham News photographer Jerry Ayres and reporter Mark Winne pursue a car driving through the Birmingham area with a hand waving for help from the trunk.

Hollis Treasures
Director: R. Todd Campbell
Run Time: 12
USA
Peruse the hidden gem of Birmingham, Tim Hollis's Hollis Treasures museum. With toys and games from the 60s, 70s and 80s, the museum not only preserves the memories of countless visitors, but also the memories of an entire life.

On the Horizon
Director: Lauren Musgrove
Run ime: 14
USA
With an abundance of hot, sunny days, Alabama has an incredible solar resource. Learn about Alabama's vast solar potential and the impediments and policy barriers that are holding back its solar success.

Seeding Fear
Director: Craig Jackson
Run Time: 11
USA
Meet Michael White, a fourth generation farmer and seed cleaner, who has faced down Mosanto.

Company Town
Directors: Amir Ahmed, Gina Sherman
Run Time: 9
USA
Globalization makes a big local impact on the city of Fairfield. When U.S. Steel closed its doors, workers were left jobless and a community struggles to meet the needs of citizens.

Okra
Run Time: 10
USA

Sharing the Secrets
Director: Drew Perlmutter
Run Time: 13
USA
Follow the passionate and daring cavers as they explore the breathtaking hidden treasures of Alabama's Northeast.

Blocked
Directors: Amber Pope, Suzanna Swanson
Run Time: 9
USA
Birmingham’s historic Fountain Heights neighborhood fights against a new highway plan that will further divide it from the rest of the city.

Eat White Dirt
Director: Adam Forrester
Run Time: 38
USA
Earth-eating has been documented since 400 BCE, and it persists as a practice to 2016. By sharing the ongoing narrative of contemporary scientists and modern-day accounts from practitioners, the tradition emerges as a counterpoint to the misguided stigmas often associated with eating white dirt.

This film is a part of the Sidewalk Family Film Festival sponsored by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama. 

Join brothers Nigel and Oscar as they head into the woods of South Carolina in a last-ditch attempt to locate and capture a real live Sasquatch. Along the way, the siblings encounter an old rival, new allies, and unexpected adventures. When the Sasquatch hunt goes awry, Nigel and Oscar's loyalties to each other are tested. With a fantastic 80s-style spirit (down to the musical nods), you won't want to miss this documentary-approach fun filled comedy. Alabama Park fans take note; Cheaha State Park plays the South Carolina forest.

Joi Tribble

This screening is sponsored by Brandino Brass.

Henry “Gip” Gipson has lived a long life as a rail yard worker, cemetery owner, and gravedigger, but nothing sums him up like his passion: the blues. Gip has operated a true delta blues juke joint in his backyard in Bessemer for over 60 years. Gip tells the story of the man and the club. When city officials shut down the party, the filmmakers were luckily there to capture the struggle to bring back one of the last remaining juke joints in the country.  

- Tom Richardson

This film is a part of the Life & Liberty Sidebar sponsored by EBSCO.

Set in 1968 at Meharry Medical College in Tennessee, two men embark on their medical educations. Eli Rosenberg is a Jewish man who experiences prejudice from both his peers and his society for the first time. Michael Debois is the son of a successful doctor who must face his father's brilliance and expectations to become his own man. Their education becomes more than just a degree as they forge friendships, overcome rivalries, and discover a passion to serve all men regardless of skin color. Service To Man was shot primarily in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
- Joi Tribble

Taking place in the exciting world of southern dirt track racing, Alabama Dirt tells
the story of Ty Hargrove, a poor country boy who dreams of becoming a dirt track
champion. But becoming a champion takes money and money is something Tyler
does not have. Against the odds Ty must beat the local, rich boy champion Snake
Turner for a chance at glory. Shot in Mobile, Alabama and starring Michael Roark,
Leslie Easterbrook and country music artist Tracy Lawrence, Sidewalk is proud to
host the premiere of Alabama Dirt.
- Lisa Cordes

This screening is sponsored by Keri Lane Promotions.

Ma'Cille's (one of a kind ever) Museum of Miscellanea
Director: Gail Aronson, Grace Kyle
Run Time: 12
USA
Three granddaughters and their close family friend reflect on the legacy of "Ma'Cille" House and the museum she created from 1954-1994 in Pickens Country.

Self Portrait
Director: Jessica Chriesman
Run Time: 7
USA
An experimental memoir reflecting on the past and its effect on who we become.

The The New Orleans Sazerac
Director: James Martin
Run Time: 21
USA

Explore the expansive history and modern applications of the classic cocktail through interviews with historians, authors, experts, and bartenders.

The Gospel of the Alabama Oyster
Director: Joe York
Run Time: 9
USA
In 2009, not a single oyster farm operated on the Alabama coast. By 2015, there were eight oyster farming companies. Lane Zirlott, of Murder Point Oyster Company, calls it an oyster revolution.

KNOWDOPE: The Documentary
Director: Matthew Henton, Sarah Buckalew
Run Time: 13
USA
A documentary following two lives in Alabama altered by heroin addiction.

Stay the Course
Director: Kayla Gladney
Run Time: 8
USA
The story of Montgomery native Torian Hamilton who finds peace through the tragedy of losing a loved one.

Demolition By Neglect
Director: Kendall Roden, Kaitlin Buck
Run Time: 12
USA
A reflection on the life of Larkway Gardens, an apartment complex in Birmingham's West End neighborhood, and the circumstances that led to its ultimate destruction.

The Cells of Baldwin County
Director: Mindy Keeley
Run Time: 18
USA
A documentary film about a childhood cancer cluster in Baldwin County and the families who are trying to make sense of it all.