Birmingham
Alabama
Sidewalk Film Center and Cinema Happenings - March 27, 2023
Arts and Entertainment
March 28, 2023
From: Sidewalk Film Center and CinemaWhat's Happening in Education and Outreach at Sidewalk
Join us TONIGHT for a special Southern Circuit screening!
Blurring the Color Line Screening + Post-Film Discussion
with director Crystal Kwok
March 27 | $15 | 7PM
Sidewalk Film Center + Cinema is proud to be a screening venue for the 2022 Southern Circuit. Since Southern Circuit’s inception in 1975, hundreds of filmmakers have toured, sharing their work and perspective with over one hundred Screening Partner communities throughout South Arts’ nine-state region (Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee). Southern Circuit is made possible through a partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts.
Where did the Chinese sit on the bus during Jim Crow? Blurring the Color Line breaks racial barriers by going beyond the narratives of black & white. Much has been written about segregation upon Black people in the South, but nothing that discusses the social placement of Asian Americans during this time. This film invites critical conversations around today’s racial tensions by addressing a connective past.
Blurring the Color Line is inspired by Crystal Kwok’s grandmother’s story about her family’s grocery store in Augusta, Georgia. Her family grew up in a Black neighborhood and they share stories about their personal experiences that expose the problematic, racialized system. The film decenters existing narratives and showcases perspectives from both the Chinese and Black community, opening up necessary but uncomfortable discussions between marginalized groups.
Blurring the Color Line is a step towards cross-racial solidarity by having a better understanding of the past in efforts of changing the future. Both Asian and Black groups have faced hardships and lack of nrepresentation in the media, so this film is needed now more than ever.
We are excited to welcome director Crystal Kwok to our post film discussion!
The Performance of Documentary | 5 PM | Free
Join us before the screening of Blurring the Color Line for this free lecture by director and Ph.D. candidate Crystal Kwok.
How does a documentary perform? How does race perform? Crystal Kwok shares her approach in making the film through a performative and feminist lens, focusing on concepts of liminality and the multiple spaces that intentionally serve to disrupt binary narratives.
Space is Limited - Reserve Your Seat Here
Our Southern Circuit film for April is HAZING
Hazing Screening + Post-Film Discussion
with director Byron Hurt
April 12 | $15 | 7PM
Sidewalk Film Center + Cinema is proud to be a screening venue for the 2022 Southern Circuit. Since Southern Circuit’s inception in 1975, hundreds of filmmakers have toured, sharing their work and perspective with over one hundred Screening Partner communities throughout South Arts’ nine-state region (Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee). Southern Circuit is made possible through a partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts.
If you think hazing is a trivial college problem, think again. In Hazing, award-winning filmmaker Byron Hurt lifts the veil on secret, underground rituals that are often dehumanizing, abusive, and sometimes deadly. Byron, a member of a fraternity, places hazing culture under the microscope to discover a world of toxic masculinity, violence, sexual degradation, binge drinking, denial, and institutional coverups.
We are excited to welcome award-winning director Byron Hurt to our post film discussion!
Creating Hazing
April 12 | 5 PM | Free
Join us before the screening of HAZING for this free look at the obstacles and triumphs of creating a feature length documentary film with award-winning director Byron Hurt. Byron will give behind the scenes insight on the production of Hazing, his third feature length documentary film, and will tackle some of the ethical issues and challenges that his team faced with this film and its subject matter.
Space is Limited - Reserve Your Seat Here
April Book + Film Club is
on Truth in Documentary
Book: F Is For Phony: Fake Documentary And Truth’s Undoing by Alexandra Juhasz & Jesse Lerner
- ""By far one of the most intriguing essays was "The Artifice of Realism and the Lure of the 'Real' in Orson Welles's F for Fake and Other T(r)eas(u)er(e)s" (sic), by Catherine I. Benamou. She deals with the film of her title but also with Welles' trickery in his "War of the Worlds" broadcast and his film masterpiece, Citizen Kane. Her arguments are intellectually challenging, and she employs demanding academic language filled with words that will send you to your dictionary." Documentary.org
Film: F for Fake (1973, dir. Orson Welles)
- "F for Fake is one of the more wistfully humorous of Welles’s wrestlings with reality. Roguishly comic yet profoundly bittersweet and edited in seizures with a deliberate, manic grace, the film represents the most flamboyant of its director’s magical acts, with Welles himself acting on screen as the narrator/conjuror, pulling the curtain back again and again, each time only to reveal another stage and another curtain in a series of dizzyingly self-reflexive meditations on fakery." - Variety
April MAILING Registration Deadline: Friday April 7
April PICK UP Registration Deadline: Monday April 17
Private screening and discussion will take place at Sidewalk Cinema April 26th at 7 PM.
If you register for 3 or more sessions in one transaction a 10% discount will be automatically applied to your registration fee! This is replacing the multi-month membership we had in years past. Use code '3ormore' at checkout.
Find all of 2023's Book + Film Club Titles Here
In honor of our inaugural Alabama Film Week Sidewalk’s 2023 Spring Scramble is open to filmmakers statewide! Filmmaking amateurs and pros alike compete for a grand prize in our weekend long filmmaking competition. Teams will take on 48 hours of writing, directing, and editing your own short film from scratch April 14-16. CASH PRIZES for Jury and Audience award winners + screening during the 25th annual Sidewalk Film Festival. The kickoff meeting will be via Zoom.
This edition's prizes include:
$500 Jury Prize
$250 Audience Choice Award
Screening during the Local Shorts Block during Alabama Film Week at Sidewalk Film Center + Cinema (April 18 - 23)
Screening during the 25th annual Sidewalk Film Festival (August 21 - 28)
Regular Registration by April 7 - $40
Late Registration by April 12 - $50
College students! Bring your student IDs and join us for discounted screenings and concessions specials on the first Thursday of every month. Popcorn club members get in free!
ALL DAY - APRIL 6
Networking Night - April 20
Filmmaker Happy Hour is now Networking Night! Your favorite opportunity to network for Birmingham area creatives, has a new name at the Sidewalk Cinema! Join us the 3rd Thursday of each month to meet other filmmakers and discuss your newest projects!
No registration is necessary and it's free!
OPPORTUNITIES
Indie Media Arts South
Indie Media Arts South is a regional collective of arts organizations, film festivals, and media makers working to strengthen the independent sector across the greater South, with a focus on equity and sustainability. The group meets monthly via Zoom.
2023 Library of Congress Lavine/Ken Burns Prize for Film | Deadline May 15
Now in its fifth year, the award recognizes six late-stage documentary films that use original research and compelling narrative to tell stories that bring American history to life with archival materials. The winner receives $200,000, the runner-up receives $50,000, and four finalists each receive $25,000 for finishing costs, marketing, distribution, and outreach. There is no application fee. The Prize is presented each fall at a ceremony at the Library of Congress with Members of Congress, prominent filmmakers, academics, thought leaders, and distinguished public media professionals to honor the importance of history documentary filmmaking.
Reel-Scout
Join Reel-Scout to be listed in the Film Birmingham Crew Database. This allows you to be featured across the City of Birmingham and State of Alabama for film production opportunities.
WHAT'S GOING ON IN FILM
‘I love Alabama’: Daniel Scheinert sends hometown message from inside Oscars | al.com
With His Oscar Nominee Close, Lukas Dhont Makes Art Out Of Coming of Age | GQ (Your last chance to watch Close at Sidewalk is March 30!)
Wes Anderson’s Favorite Movies: 18 Films the Director Wants You to See | Indiewire
Hollywood’s AI Anxiety Is Showing | The Hollywood Reporter
15 Perfect Movies According to Pauline Kael, the Subject of Tarantino's Final Film | MovieWeb
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