Another Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival has wrapped up in Birmingham, Alabama with a majorly successful bang. Awards night went down September 25th and, as last year, it was an entertaining evening. Who knew handing out awards could be so funny.
To kick things off, a special inaugural Spirit of Sidewalk award was presented to actor John C. Reilly (“Magnolia”, “Chicago”, “The Aviator”, “Gangs of New York”, “The Good Girl”, “Boogie Nights” “Hard Eight” “The Anniversary Party” and many more) to honor him for his body of work in independent film. John was in attendance to accept his award.
The rest of the awards handed out during the evening are as follows:
FEATURE FILM AWARDS
Feature jury comprised of: Eric Campos (FilmThreat.com) Alison Dickey (PIGGIE) Curtiss Clayton (RICK).
Best Feature Film ($1,000 cash prize)
THE PUFFY CHAIR, directed by Jay Duplass
Best Director
MUTUAL APPRECIATION, directed by Andrew Bujalski
The following special honors were also presented by the Feature Film Jury:
Special Mention
FOUR EYED MONSTERS, directed by Arin Crumley and Susan Buice
Best Ensemble Cast
SWIMMERS, directed by Doug Sadler
Best Cinematography
AMERICANO, directed by Kevin Noland
DOCUMENTARY AWARDS
Documentary jury comprised of: Peter Gilbert (HOOP DREAMS), Skizz Cyzyk (Maryland Film Festival) and Lucia Small (MY FATHER THE GENIUS)
Best Documentary ($1,000 cash prize)
LUCHA LIBRE: LIFE BEHIND THE MASK, directed by Rich Walton and Carlos Garcia
Best Short Documentary
CHARLES MOORE: I FIGHT WITH MY CAMERA, directed by Daniel Love
The following special honors were also presented by the Documentary Film Jury:
Special Jury Award for Cultural Significance
MUSIC IS MY LIFE: POLITICS MY MISTRESS, directed by donnie l. betts
Best Student Documentary
MISS LIL’S CAMP, directed by Suzanne Niedland & Anberin Pasha
SHORT FILMS
Jury comprised of: Daniel Wallace (author Big Fish), Alison Bagnall (director of PIGGIE, co-writer of BUFFALO ’66), Gabe Wardell (Sonoma Valley Film Festival) and Steve Montal (Slamdance Film Festival).
Best Short Film ($1,000 cash prize)
SPAM-KU, directed by Steven Tsuchida
Best Student Short Film
TEST DAY, directed by David Fabelo
Best Animated Film ($500 cash prize)
QUEST FOR THE ORB, directed by Sam McDavid
Kathryn Tucker Windham Storytelling Award
PEE SHY, directed by Deb Hagan
Best Alabama Short Film
THE 3 R’S, directed by Nathan Voltz
The following special honor was also presented by the Short Film Jury:
Special Jury Prize
DARE, directed by Adam Salky
AUDIENCE CHOICE AWARDS
Feature
NOVEM, directed by Brad Kimmel
Documentary
FAVELA RISING, directed by Jeff Zimbalist and Matt Mochary
Short
PEE SHY, directed by Deb Hagan
Alabama
A MODEST PROPOSAL, directed by Sam Frazier, Jr.
For the second year, Alabama Citations of Excellence (ACE) were given to honor excellence in Alabama filmmaking. Alison Bagnall, Steve Montal and Daniel Wallace selected the winners of the 2005 ACE Awards.
Excellence in Imagery
MINDWALK, directed by David Whitson
Excellence in Soundtrack
MINDWALK, directed by David Whitson
Excellence in Cinematography
THE GIRLFRIEND, directed by Adam Wingard
WHO KILLED TANGERINE?, directed by Brent Davis
Excellence in Casting
AIR BAND, directed by Darrel C. Hazelrig
Excellence in Multimedia
PORTRAIT OF A GIRL, directed by Ali Clark
Excellence in Animation
THE FANCIFUL GENTLEMAN, directed by Sam McDavid
Excellence in Drama
BIRTHDAY WISH, directed by Alan Hunter
The F*****g Funny Award
THE 3 R’S, directed by Nathan Voltz
A MODEST PROPOSAL, directed by Sam Frazier, Jr.
TESTOSTERINO, directed by Hunter Cressall
Excellence in Student Filmmaking
STRAW MAN UNYIELDING, directed by Todd Bryant
Excellence in Cinematic Innovation
GRATUITOUS, directed by Alex Justinger
Excellence in Acting
Austin McDonald for STRAW MAN UNYIELDING, directed by Todd Bryant
George Milton for A MODEST PROPOSAL, directed by Sam Frazier, Jr.
Stephanie Schnorbus for THE GIRLFRIEND, directed by Adam Wingard
Stephen Williams for STRAW MAN UNYIELDING, directed by Todd Bryant
For more post festival information, visit the Sidewalk website.
