Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival
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Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival is a film festival, founded in 1999 and occurring annually on the last weekend of September in Birmingham, Alabama. Independent features, short films and documentaries from around the world are shown in several venues within walking distance of each other, including the Alabama Theatre, in the historic theatre district. It is a project of Alabama Moving Image Association, Inc., a publicly supported 501(c)(3) non-profit organization created to inspire, support and encourage films and filmmaking in Alabama.
The Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival was created to bring new films to a new audience. Since its debut in 1999, filmmakers from across the United States and around the world have come to Birmingham to screen their work at Sidewalk. In 2002, Sidewalk attracted over 10,000 attendees during the festival weekend, some flying in from as far away as Denmark and the United Kingdom to attend the festivities.
Back in 1996, a couple of local filmmakers made a trip to the Sundance Film Festival, wandered up Main Street to Slamdance, and saw a film called Hard Core Logo. After years of coffee-drenched brainstorming about Fellini-esque nuns on rollerblades and the revival of Birmingham's historic theatre district, the dream of the Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival turned into reality in the spring of 1999 with 40 films screened in 3 days.
Chris Gore's Ultimate Film Festival Survival Guide rated the Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival as "One of the Top 10 Film Festival Vacations." MovieMaker magazine called it "Best Kept Secret."
In 2005, Sidewalk honored acclaimed film actor John C. Reilly (Magnolia, Chicago, The Aviator, Boogie Nights, The Good Girl, etc.) with the inaugural Spirit of Sidewalk award for his body of work throughout his career. Reilly noted Sidewalkâs independent spirit and was thrilled to be recognized by our community in Birmingham. Other past attendees of the festival include: Amber Benson (Buffy the Vampire Slayer), Louise Fletcher (One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest), Peter Gilbert (Hoop Dreams), Chris Gore (Independent Film Channel, FilmThreat.com), Adrian Grenier (Entourage, Celebrity), Vincent Kartheiser (ER, Another Day in Paradise, Angel), David Keith (An Officer and a Gentleman), Dash Mihok (Romeo + Juliet, The Thin Red Line), Chris Mulkey (Twin Peaks), Dan Myrick (The Blair Witch Project), Mary Kay Place (The Big Chill), Mary Lynn Rajskub (24, Mr. Show with Bob and David, Punch-Drunk Love, Sweet Home Alabama), Daniel Wallace (Big Fish), and many more up and coming award winning filmmakers and stars.
