28 Alabama films to catch at Sidewalk Film Festival this weekend, Aug. 29-30

Sidewalk Film Festival has kicked off its 28th year, and the lineup of Alabama-shot films and shorts is loaded with interesting stories. A Florence plantation reckoning, a Mobile football dynasty, a Birmingham basketball drama shot right here in the Magic City are among the homegrown stories worth building your festival weekend around.

Out of the 28 Alabama-shot films featured below, 10 are standalone features, and 18 are shorts.

Here’s what’s playing in the Alabama film track, plus exactly where and when to catch each one.

Saturday, Aug. 29

Echoes of the Forks of Cypress

Directed by Sidewalk-alum Frederick DeShon Murphy, this documentary follows Murphy’s own research into his family’s ties to the Forks of Cypress plantation in Florence. The film brings together descendants of both the enslaved and the enslavers connected to the plantation, tracing their present-day work to reckon with that shared history and build toward healing.

• When: Saturday, August 29 at 10AM
• Where: Kress Building Ballroom
• Runtime: 44 minutes
• More info

Warriors

This documentary digs into Mobile’s 2009 Davidson High School football team, which produced the first pair of high school teammates ever drafted by the same NFL team: Jimmie Ward and Jaquiski Tartt. Players, coaches and family members share memories that add up to a portrait of just how much pressure young athletes carry while chasing an NFL dream.

• When: Saturday, August 29 at 10AM
• Where: First Church Birmingham
• Runtime: 1 hour 44 minutes
• More info

As Goes the South

This film from Brian “B+” Cross and Eric Coleman sets out to update the national image of Birmingham beyond the black-and-white footage most people associate with the city. Featuring Mayor Randall Woodfin among a new generation of Birmingham leaders, the film leans into the city’s mountain views, architecture and creative culture to make the case that Birmingham’s story is still being written.

This screens as a double feature with Birmingham’s Front Lawn.

• When: Saturday, August 29 at 10AM
• Where: Carver Theatre
• Runtime: 45 minutes
• More info

Birmingham’s Front Lawn

Director Michele Forman traces Railroad Park’s transformation from an overlooked industrial corridor into one of downtown Birmingham’s most-loved gathering spaces. The film features the designers and community leaders who pushed the park from concept to reality, 15 years after it opened.

Screens alongside As Goes the South.

• When: Saturday, August 29 at 10AM
• Where: Carver Theatre
• Runtime: 46 minutes
• More info

Alabama Narratives: Made in Alabama (9 shorts)

This shorts block gathers narrative films made by Alabama filmmakers, including Picklish, Job Search, Growing Up in the 4th Dimension, Scrambled in Space, A Shot in the Dark, Cause of Death, Mr Jesus and Man and Mattress. It’s one of the best ways to see a wide cross-section of Alabama’s narrative filmmaking talent in a single sitting.

• When: Saturday, August 29 at 10AM
• Where: ASFA Dorothy Jemison Day Theater
• Runtime: (9 shorts) 1 hour 32 minutes
• More info

Interaction

Director Dallas Richard Hallam, who grew up in Birmingham, makes his solo feature debut with this psychological thriller about an independent housekeeper whose habit of secretly recording her clients spirals into something far more dangerous. It’s a tense, well-crafted watch for horror and suspense fans looking for something outside the festival’s documentary-heavy Alabama slate.

• When: Saturday, August 29 at 7PM
• Where: Sidewalk Cinema Theater A
• Runtime: 1 hour 58 minutes
• More info

Show Me the Line

When an Alabama court ruling threatens access to IVF and her own embryos, artist Abbey Crain refuses to back down. Director Kelsey Ianuzzi follows Crain and a group of fellow fertility patients as they confront the legal fallout head-on, turning an unsettled legal landscape into a story about resilience and creative power.

• When: Saturday, August 29 at 5PM
• Where: Lyric Theatre
• Runtime: 1 hour 37 minutes
• More info
• Encore showing:
  • Anyone who has Sidewalk Film Fest tickets can attend, but individual tickets for the Lyric Theatre screening of Show Me the Line have sold out. Sidewalk has added an encore at ASFA’s Dorothy Jemison Day Theater at 7PM Saturday, immediately following the Lyric screening. Find ticket info here.

Sunday, Aug. 30

Alabama Docs: From River to Clay (9 shorts)

This documentary shorts program features Alabama-made work including The Mayor of Rasslin’, Are You Listening? Poetry in the Magic City, HYPERSCALED, Final Press, Monograph: David Brower, Memory Work, The Chukker: Nation of Misfits and Wall of Sound, alongside an entry from India. It’s a strong entry point for anyone curious about the range of documentary work happening around the state right now.

• When: Sunday, August 30 at 10AM
• Where: Carver Theatre
• Runtime: (9 films) 1 hour 28 minutes
• More info

Last Shot

Shot entirely in Birmingham, this narrative film follows 12-year-old basketball player Caden Isaacs as he navigates a sudden tragedy and an unexpected move to live with his previously absent, workaholic mother. Director Andy Palmer, who has no personal ties to Alabama, has said Birmingham’s mix of big-city and small-town textures made it an ideal filming location.

• When: Sunday, August 30 at 10AM
• Where: ASFA Dorothy Jemison Day Theater
• Runtime: 1 hour 48 minutes
• More info

SELMA: Songs of the Crossing

French director Jean-Jacques Cunnac follows a New York artist who travels to Selma searching for inspiration and a sense of self. Visiting during the Bridge Crossing Jubilee, he walks his son through the city’s civil rights history alongside its present-day daily life, drawing out the contrast between the two.

• When: Sunday, August 30 at 12:15PM
• Where: Sidewalk Cinema Theater A
• Runtime: 1 hour 11 minutes
• More info

Beyond the Vote

Director Marshall “P” Pollard follows 145 relational organizers working to mobilize Black voters across Eastern North Carolina, reframing what political power can look like once the vote itself is secured. It’s a world premiere at this year’s festival.

• When: Sunday, August 30 at 6:45PM
• Where: Lyric Theatre
• Runtime: 54 minutes
• More info

Voyager

Alabama animator Trevor Mastro makes his feature debut with this psychedelic animated film following Embie, an aspiring concert photographer who joins an intergalactic band on tour and finds his ideas about success and responsibility upended along the way. It’s a world premiere and a one-of-a-kind entry in this year’s lineup.

• When: Sunday, August 30 at 7:15PM
• Where: Carver Theatre
• Runtime: 40 minutes
• More info