Sidewalk Film Festival Begins This Week in Downtown Birmingham

BIRMINGHAM, AL - What has become a major tourist attraction for Birmingham is back again for the 19th yrear, as the Sidewalk Film Festival begins tomorrow in downtown Birmingham. Since its debut in 1999, filmmakers from across the country and around the world have come to Birmingham to screen their work at Sidewalk and the festival has gained more momentum each year.

With ten screening venues located within Birmingham’s historic Theatre District (featuring the restored Alabama Theatre, a 2,200 seat movie palace built by Paramount in 1927 and the newly restored Lyric Fine Arts Theatre built in 1914 for B.F. Keith’s Vaudeville circuit), spontaneity rules the schedule of Sidewalk attendees. Low-priced weekend passes provide easy access to Sidewalk venues, encouraging attendees to seek out new films and sample programming they may not otherwise see. (For more updates on this story and free news alerts for your neighborhood, sign up for your local Birmingham Patch morning newsletter.)

Birmingham recently completed hosting the Sloss Music and Arts Festival in July, and the Secret Stages music festival two weeks ago. These showcases of local and regional talent have become mainstays in the Birmingham cultural scene, as the city has seen a heavy shift in emphasis to hosting the arts.

The week-long event has been featured in publications such as Filmaker, the Washington Post and Movie Maker Magazine.