Sidewalk Film Festival Returns for its 20th Year

 ========= Old Image Removed =========Array
(
    [_wp_attached_file] => Array
        (
            [0] => 2018/08/2018_Sidewalk_Film_Festival_Sign.jpg
        )

    [_wp_attachment_metadata] => Array
        (
            [0] => a:5:{s:5:"width";i:1920;s:6:"height";i:1079;s:4:"file";s:44:"2018/08/2018_Sidewalk_Film_Festival_Sign.jpg";s:5:"sizes";a:13:{s:6:"medium";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:44:"2018_Sidewalk_Film_Festival_Sign-336x189.jpg";s:5:"width";i:336;s:6:"height";i:189;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:5:"large";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:44:"2018_Sidewalk_Film_Festival_Sign-771x433.jpg";s:5:"width";i:771;s:6:"height";i:433;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:9:"thumbnail";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:44:"2018_Sidewalk_Film_Festival_Sign-140x140.jpg";s:5:"width";i:140;s:6:"height";i:140;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:12:"medium_large";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:44:"2018_Sidewalk_Film_Festival_Sign-768x432.jpg";s:5:"width";i:768;s:6:"height";i:432;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:9:"1536x1536";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:45:"2018_Sidewalk_Film_Festival_Sign-1536x863.jpg";s:5:"width";i:1536;s:6:"height";i:863;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:9:"wbhm-icon";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:42:"2018_Sidewalk_Film_Festival_Sign-80x80.jpg";s:5:"width";i:80;s:6:"height";i:80;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:13:"wbhm-featured";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:44:"2018_Sidewalk_Film_Festival_Sign-600x338.jpg";s:5:"width";i:600;s:6:"height";i:338;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:20:"wbhm-featured-square";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:44:"2018_Sidewalk_Film_Festival_Sign-600x600.jpg";s:5:"width";i:600;s:6:"height";i:600;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:18:"wbhm-featured-home";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:44:"2018_Sidewalk_Film_Festival_Sign-553x311.jpg";s:5:"width";i:553;s:6:"height";i:311;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:22:"wbhm-featured-carousel";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:44:"2018_Sidewalk_Film_Festival_Sign-470x265.jpg";s:5:"width";i:470;s:6:"height";i:265;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:28:"ab-block-post-grid-landscape";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:44:"2018_Sidewalk_Film_Festival_Sign-600x400.jpg";s:5:"width";i:600;s:6:"height";i:400;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:25:"ab-block-post-grid-square";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:44:"2018_Sidewalk_Film_Festival_Sign-600x600.jpg";s:5:"width";i:600;s:6:"height";i:600;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:14:"post-thumbnail";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:44:"2018_Sidewalk_Film_Festival_Sign-125x125.jpg";s:5:"width";i:125;s:6:"height";i:125;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}}s:10:"image_meta";a:12:{s:8:"aperture";s:1:"0";s:6:"credit";s:0:"";s:6:"camera";s:0:"";s:7:"caption";s:0:"";s:17:"created_timestamp";s:1:"0";s:9:"copyright";s:0:"";s:12:"focal_length";s:1:"0";s:3:"iso";s:1:"0";s:13:"shutter_speed";s:1:"0";s:5:"title";s:0:"";s:11:"orientation";s:1:"0";s:8:"keywords";a:0:{}}}
        )

    [_imagify_optimization_level] => Array
        (
            [0] => 0
        )

    [_media_credit] => Array
        (
            [0] => Source: Andrew Yeager
        )

    [_navis_media_credit_org] => Array
        (
            [0] => WBHM
        )

    [_navis_media_can_distribute] => Array
        (
            [0] => 
        )

    [_imagify_data] => Array
        (
            [0] => a:2:{s:5:"sizes";a:10:{s:4:"full";a:4:{s:7:"success";b:1;s:13:"original_size";i:2133997;s:14:"optimized_size";i:525803;s:7:"percent";d:75.359999999999999;}s:9:"thumbnail";a:4:{s:7:"success";b:1;s:13:"original_size";i:9621;s:14:"optimized_size";i:8928;s:7:"percent";d:7.2000000000000002;}s:6:"medium";a:4:{s:7:"success";b:1;s:13:"original_size";i:26748;s:14:"optimized_size";i:24835;s:7:"percent";d:7.1500000000000004;}s:5:"large";a:4:{s:7:"success";b:1;s:13:"original_size";i:118353;s:14:"optimized_size";i:110309;s:7:"percent";d:6.7999999999999998;}s:9:"wbhm-icon";a:4:{s:7:"success";b:1;s:13:"original_size";i:3805;s:14:"optimized_size";i:3489;s:7:"percent";d:8.3000000000000007;}s:13:"wbhm-featured";a:4:{s:7:"success";b:1;s:13:"original_size";i:75849;s:14:"optimized_size";i:70719;s:7:"percent";d:6.7599999999999998;}s:20:"wbhm-featured-square";a:4:{s:7:"success";b:1;s:13:"original_size";i:34367;s:14:"optimized_size";i:32121;s:7:"percent";d:6.54;}s:18:"wbhm-featured-home";a:4:{s:7:"success";b:1;s:13:"original_size";i:64837;s:14:"optimized_size";i:60462;s:7:"percent";d:6.75;}s:22:"wbhm-featured-carousel";a:4:{s:7:"success";b:1;s:13:"original_size";i:48702;s:14:"optimized_size";i:45351;s:7:"percent";d:6.8799999999999999;}s:14:"post-thumbnail";a:4:{s:7:"success";b:1;s:13:"original_size";i:7949;s:14:"optimized_size";i:7383;s:7:"percent";d:7.1200000000000001;}}s:5:"stats";a:3:{s:13:"original_size";i:2524228;s:14:"optimized_size";i:889400;s:7:"percent";d:64.769999999999996;}}
        )

    [_imagify_status] => Array
        (
            [0] => success
        )

)
1656067973 
1534923593

When the lights go down at the Alabama Theatre Friday evening, it will mark the 20th opening of the Sidewalk Film Festival. Sidewalk has been a source of independent movies and a touchstone for the Birmingham filmmaking community. WBHM’s Andrew Yeager spoke with Michele Forman, former president of the festival’s board and part of the group that got Sidewalk off the ground in the late 1990s.

Highlights

The challenge of convincing people a downtown festival would work:

“We kept telling people at that time it’s like [the now-defunct music festival] City Stages, but for movies … That probably in my mind was a sort of model that it can be done and that you can get people to come back to downtown to be able to go out at night, eat, hang out, be able to really activate that space again.”

Finding space to screen films:

“We really didn’t have any venues … We had the Alabama Theatre and we had a lot of empty storefronts. So that involved bringing in generators. Not just projection equipment, but actually bringing in our own electricity. In those early years there were folding chairs and bean bags. It really was a pop up that first year.”

How technology such as smart phones has changed filmmaking:

“The barriers to production have really never been lower. You have the power in your pocket essentially. But it still requires the kind of training, the kind of craft, to be able to direct, to be able to do the production and set design, to be able to cast, to be able to edit, be able to put together all those visual and audio elements, to be able to create a work of art, to be able to tell a story. Those things still require the same kind of education. It’s just the expense of making it have really shifted.”

 

Michele Forman’s Top Picks To See:

Studio 54: The Documentary

Three Identical Strangers

 Michelin Stars – Tales From The Kitchen Trailer

White Tide: The Legend Of Culebra

Rodents Of Unusual Size

Madeline’s Madeline

**Note: this film was reviewed on NPR’s All Things Considered.

The Miseducation of Cameron Post

 If I Leave Here Tomorrow: A Film About Lynyrd Skynyrd

 

Sen. Murkowski on why she’s having more talks than ever on the state of democracy

Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, sat down with All Things Considered host Juana Summers to discuss her memoir, her thoughts on Trump's sweeping domestic policy bill and the future of democracy.

Purple Heart Army veteran self-deports after nearly 50 years in the U.S.

Sae Joon Park left for South Korea on Monday. His removal order was the result of drug possession and bail jumping charges from over 15 years ago — offenses that, he said, stemmed from untreated PTSD.

TikTok bans #SkinnyTok. But content promoting unhealthy eating persists

The social media platform TikTok recently banned a hashtag called #SkinnyTok after European regulators warned it was promoting extreme weight loss. But eliminating this kind of content is not easy.

RFK Jr. and Dr. Oz say health insurers will cut red tape on ‘prior authorizations’

In recent years, health insurers ramped up the practice of requiring doctors to get their approval before tests and procedures. On Monday, health leaders announced voluntary reforms from insurers.

The Trump administration is making an unprecedented reach for data held by states

States hold troves of sensitive personal data that were previously never shared with the federal government or across federal agencies. The Trump administration is trying to change that.

Uncertainty hangs over the status of a ceasefire between Israel and Iran

Despite separate statements from the two countries saying they agreed to a truce, reports persisted of further airstrikes and counter-strikes.

More Arts and Culture Coverage