By Mark Trammell
The impending Birmingham Sidewalk Film Festival provides a place for independent films to be shown to a wider audience. It is where lesser-known and smaller films can have their day in the sun, and the celebration of a realized dream can be highlighted. Few realize just how much hard work goes into the making of films, where even a short can take months or even years to be put together, particularly if a sizable amount of money is needed for completion, or if certain things go wrong.
Take, for example, UAB alumni Kenneth Hurd’s short, “The Nurse.” Though the film only took two days to film, it took over eight months more to complete when the original audio proved unusable and the entire soundtrack had to be re-recorded from scratch. Hurd praises fellow UAB alum Alex Justinger for his able and invaluable aid in salvaging the project, which revolves around a woman and an unorthodox baby. The film was shot in hi-definition video and runs eight minutes, which makes for roughly one month post-production for each minute of film shot!
The short horror film was actually shot in the Summer of 2008, but is only now getting to see the light of the day by the general public, thanks to the Sidewalk Film Festival. It will be shown as part of a block of locally-shot shorts airing on Sunday at 11am, September 27th. Hurd cites the work of cult faves David Cronenberg (“The Brood,””The Fly”) and Larry Cohen (“It’s Alive,” “Q”) as his primary influences, and looks forward to a bigger audience finally getting to see the fruits of his long labors.
The aforementioned Mr. Justinger also played a part in the production of the latest effort from local cult fave Adam Wingard, best known for the feature-length films “Home Sick” and “Pop Skull.” Writer/Director Wingard is a regular fixture and participant at the festival. With “Home Sick,” one of Bama’s own even got to play in the sand with three names that will surely be familiar to cult horror fans: Bill Moseley (“The Devil’s Rejects,” “Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2”), Tom Towles (“Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer,” the recent “Halloween” remake), and sexy scream queen Tiffany Shepis, perhaps best known for her work with Troma (“Tromeo & Juliet” and “Toxic Avenger 4”).
His latest, “Cerebella” makes its debut in the same shorts block as the aforementioned “The Nurse.” An artier piece than his usual blood-drenched fare, “Cerebella” tells the story of a woman who checks into a hotel room with one goal: to wage a personal war against sleep itself. You’ll have to check out the short for yourself to see how she fares, but Justinger promises it will be something to see.
If Wingard’s previous efforts are any indication (which also include the well-received festival shorts, “The Girlfriend” and “The Little One”), that’s putting it mildly. The short has already had the honor of winning at the National 48-hour Film Competition in Nashville, where it also took honors in best Sound Editing and Cinematography.
Everyone who loves films should go out and show their support, come next weekend. You won’t find a better deal in town if you’re a film lover. Tell ‘em Trammell sent ya.
The Sidewalk Film Festival runs from Friday, September 25th-27th and takes place in downtown Birmingham in various locales, including the Alabama and Carver Theatres, among others. See the official website at: http://www.sidewalkfest.com for more details, including a complete line-up of the films being shown.
