This is a breaking news story. Updates will continue throughout the week.

Domestic partners will receive the same benefits as heterosexual married couples beginning January 2010.
The new policy will cover both dependent adult and sponsored dependent child insurances.
“Effective Oct.1, 2009, UAB faculty and staff were able to enroll eligible sponsored adult and child dependents in medical, dental and vision plans. The university made the decision to expand its benefit eligibility categories in the context of one of our strategic goals,” a UAB spokesperson said.
University president Carol Garrison said last week UAB is striving to maintain excellence in the fields of academics and research, but to do this the university had to modify employee benefits to attract a better pool of faculty applicants.
“We strive to create a positive, supportive and diverse work environment in which faculty and staff can excel. We believe this change will help us remain competitive from an employee recruiting standpoint,” the spokesperson said.
Other universities across the nation competing with UAB in many fields such as medicine have adopted similar policies to acquire faculty members.
“We were not able to offer the families of potential faculty, staff and researchers access to the same sorts of benefits packages comparable to those of our top NIH-funded medical school peer group, which includes Vanderbilt, Duke, Johns Hopkins and others.
Jade Delisle, director of “One Closed Door After Another,” a film that addresses the lack of availability of domestic partner benefits for gay and lesbian employees at UAB has spent time talking to UAB faculty who cited personnel losses due to the old policy.
“A lot of people left for this reason,” Delisle said.
Delisle also notes that UAB is one of the top 20 universities on the list of the American Research Universities. Of the top 20 only three of them did not offer domestic partner benefits.
“UAB was one of those three universities,” she said. “UAB employees did not have access to the same healthcare for their partner and children even though they paid the same money.”
The plan outlines an eligible partner as someone who “shares a primary residence, not as a renter, tenant or employee, with the covered UAB employee, and has lived with UAB employee at least 12 months prior to effective date of coverage, is at least 19 years old, the age of majority in Alabama, is not a relative and is not married,” according to the university’s human resources benefits website.

For more information visit http://www.hrm.uab.edu/main/benefits. To watch “One Closed Door After Another” click here.

Lindsey Little
Staff Writer
lklittle@uab.edu

Alyssa Mitchell
Editor in Chief
editor@insideuab.com

httpv://www.youtube.com/v/annV2cWOwJs

By Mark Trammell

The best thing about the Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival is that there’s so much to do and see you can’t hope to do it all. The worst thing about the Festival is that… there’s so much to do and see you can’t hope to do it all. Which is not necessarily a bad thing, just frustrating. Of course, I suppose you could say that about any film festival, but I digress. This isn’t about those other film festivals, but our very own.
Things got off to an auspicious start for me personally, when I inadvertently missed opening night on account of a variety of events I won’t bore you with. From what I hear, the film I missed, “Best Worst Movie” was sort of like “American Movie,” only sadder. Apparently there’s a heartbreaking scene where the director of the film being profiled, “Troll 2” looks devastated when he realizes people aren’t laughing with his movie, but at it. Ouch! I had hoped to at least see the movie itself the next day, but more events transpired…and I missed it, too! (See elsewhere for Alyssa Mitchell’s write-up on “Troll 2”)
However, my loss was also my gain, as I wouldn’t have gone to see the movie I did, “Modern Love is Automatic,” if said events hadn’t transpired. What a film to start out with! And I do mean that in a good way. According to the event promoter that introduced it- I didn’t catch her name (if you’re out there, fess up!)- it was a late addition to the line-up that many voted against, but she fought for it and got it in after all. Good going!
“MLIA” is a low-key but entertaining fever dream about an apathetic nurse, Lorraine- like the quiche, appropriately enough- who finds herself fixated on the world of domination. Not world domination, mind you, but the domination world. As in S&M, whips & chains, ball & gag…you know the drill. Despite her indifference to all those around her (save a frosty can of Tab), she makes a friend in model/mattress seller (!) Adrian and has one guy fall hopelessly in love with her to the point he is driven to distraction and does some pretty mental things.
The film has enough pastel outfits and bright color schemes to give John Waters a happy, but isn’t quite as over-the-top as Mr. Waters’ work on the whole, even his slightly more tame recent work (not saying much by his standards, mind you, but “Pecker,” is not as patently insane as, say, “Desperate Living,” for instance). However, what it lacks in energy or intensity of purpose, it makes up for in overall mood. Star Melodie Sisk, who resembles a curvier Selma Blair, is a real find, doing more by doing nothing than a lot of actors do in overdoing it. She nails the apathetic vibe of her character, and if the ending leaves a bit to be desired, at least it doesn’t go the obvious route.
There are some great individual scenes here, particularly in Lorraine’s dealings with the bizarre customers, and her reactions- or lack thereof- to her co-workers, or a “dungeon mistress” berating a naughty employee, for instance. These non-reactions also make the ones where she does react stand out that much more. Not that there’s a lot of the latter, mind you, but the film does end on a relatively positive note, at least! Also, love the wholly inappropriate death metal soundtrack…or maybe it actually is pretty appropriate, come to think of it. I assume it’s meant to represent the inner rage Lorraine feels but cannot express outwardly, right? Or something.
Either way, it’s a neat little indie, so kudos to director Zach Clark for at least trying something different, even if the film as a whole is a bit flawed, particularly in terms of pacing. Put it this way, if this sounds like your cup of tea, it probably is, but if it doesn’t, you’ll probably want to avoid it at all costs.
Moving on…the big talk of the festival, at least among my crowd, was the horror twofer playing at the Alabama Theater that night. Horror has always been a mainstay at the Festival, and by far the most energetic and fun of the screenings I’ve attended in the past, from “Homesick” to “Hide & Creep.” Although the films showing at the Alabama weren’t homegrown, so to speak (like those latter two were), surely their reception paved the way for that night’s selection being featured at such a prestigious venue. The pseudo-risk certainly paid off, as both screenings were relatively packed out with horror fans and the people they dragged there, no doubt some quite unhappily.
First up was “The House of the Devil,” which the Festival magazine thoroughly mislabeled as a throwback to 80s horror flicks with “Sorority” or “Slumber Party” in the title, when in fact, as die-hard horror fans realized pretty early on, it was more of a throwback to 70s horror, particularly of the “Rosemary’s Baby” or “The Sentinel” bent, or what have you. Which is to say, it was slow-moving, but in a determined way that was clearly intentional, but in no way reminiscent of the quick-paced, post-MTV slasher boom. Although it was clearly set in the early 80s, as evidenced by the soundtrack, which included the likes of The Fixx and Greg Kihn. Another plus for hardcore horror fans was the presence of genre royalty: Dee Wallace, of “Cujo” and “The Howling” fame, among others (though most probably know her from “E.T.”) and Mary Woronov, late of Warhol’s Factory and star of underrated shockers like “Silent Night, Bloody Night” (which this film recalls at times) and “Blood Theater.” Woronov was also in Rob Zombie’s “The Devil’s Rejects,” albeit briefly, and the immortal “Death Race 2000” and “Eating Raoul”. Rounding out the genre-friendly cast was Tom Noonan, aka “The Tooth Fairy” from the better, non-Ratner version of Thomas Harris’ novel “Red Dragon,” Michael Mann’s “Manhunter.”
However, the real star was newcomer Jocelin Donahue, who was often the only one on screen for the bulk of the film. Donahue has an instant likability to her in the tradition of a Jamie Lee Curtis (that much the Festival mag got right) that gets the viewer on her side immediately. As such, we care about what happens to her, and trust me, what happens to her is pretty out there, so that’s a good thing. Although a bit confusing at times, by and large, the filmmakers clearly achieved what they set out to do, which was to pay homage to their fave 70’s satanic cult movies (not giving anything away, as the film name-checks cults in the opening titles). From the 35mm film stock to the Goblin-esque score, writer/director Ti West nails it, boding well (or better than I thought, at least) for his upcoming “Cabin Fever” sequel.
Next up was what was sure to be the Festival highlight for some: “Dead Snow.” Two words: Nazi Zombies! Need I say more, really? Okay, I will. Did I mention it was Norwegian? And subtitled? And it still absolutely killed? Yes, only at the likes of the Sidewalk Film fest would you see a subtitled film from Norway receive such a warm welcome in Birmingham, and yet, there it was. Granted, zombies know no borders, but still…
The fun begins when a group of Med students convene in a cabin for a ski vacation. Amidst knowing winks to “Evil Dead” and the like (an “April Fools’ Day” shout-out! Not to mention Herzog!), the twenty-somethings settle in for beer, sex, and more beer. They uncover some stashed Nazi treasures and before long, the Nazi zombies come a-calling for their ill-gotten loot. There are some unexpected touches, to say the least, beyond the obvious (the setting, the zombies being Nazis)- such as a latrine sex scene (eew!), a little intestinal spelunking (you heard me), and some great zombie gore gags, at least a few of which I genuinely haven’t seen before- and that’s saying something, trust me! All in all, a great gory good time was had by all, and the perfect ending to a great day of independent film.
After that, it was onward and outward to the big after-fest shindig, which took place at this weird club that looked like a garage, complete with vintage cars and the like. Free booze and free food and you know what that means! Yes, lots of drunken film lovers carousing until they passed out- or at least, until the booze and food ran out. At which point…they didn’t have to go home, but… you know the drill. No word on whether drunker filmmakers tried to drive the bar “cars” home…
Needless to say, after that, getting up early was not in the cards, as tends to be the case in years past. Alas, I missed the screening of one of my pal’s films at 11:00am, but, as it turned out, there were technical difficulties and he was none too happy about it, so he was actually glad I didn’t see it, under the circumstances. I don’t know the specifics, so I’ll leave it at that and avoid any finger-pointing. I’ll leave that to those who earned the right, if indeed they have it! (Not sure if it was the projectors on duty or the filmmakers themselves providing a faulty copy of their film, in other words, but these things happen….)
I did, however, make it to the fest in time to catch Bill Plympton’s “Idiots & Angels,” thank God, and I’m glad I did, as burnt out and tired as I might have been. Some of you might recall Plympton’s work on MTV’s “Liquid Television” (which also spawned the animated version of “Aeon Flux,” probably the first anime I ever saw…) back in the day when MTV shows were actually good. Well, he’s back, this time with a feature-length animated movie, which is something to see. The man himself was there, and spoke a bit before the movie, including detailing how he got the rights to some of the music for the film, which included Tom Waits and Pink Martini. Turns out Waits is a fan and let him have a few tunes for a song…though Plympton neglected to say how much, and his brother is actually in Martini, so that proved even easier! He also got some big laughs when he revealed he was working on a project with the notorious mike-stealer Kanye West. Maybe he can do a video for poor Taylor to make up for it!
Anyhoo, “A&I” was a lot of fun, if a hair overlong, but that might be the hangover talking. Dialogue-free, the movie told its story via sound effects and music, with some great gags throughout. It’s not entirely suitable for kids- I saw a few parents cringing in places- but it’s plenty fun for adults. Plympton has a one-of-a-kind sense of humor that has to be seen to be believed, so words can’t possibly do it justice. Instead, try and do your best to seek it out. Of all the films I saw, this was the best by far, as much as I loved me some Nazi zombies. Besides, alternative animation is hard to get a hold of, and I’m not talking anime, but something more along the lines of R. Crumb. I say we all write a letter of protest to MTV and get them to bring back “Liquid Television”! Or better yet, screw MTV and get it on “Adult Swim”!
What turned out to be my final film was next, and it was a doozy: “Interplanetary.” From Sidewalk fixture Chance Shirley (the aforementioned “Hide & Creep”), this several years-in-the-making cheese fest was the perfect way to end the festival. Sort of a grade Z “Alien” clone- and I mean that in the best way- “Interplanetary” told the tale of a Mars crew who run afoul of a nasty alien. It played as a sort of slightly updated “Plan Nine from Outer Space” in color (with a dash of “Office Space”), only the filmmakers were (let’s hope) in on the joke. In other words, it was intentionally bad, with gloriously cheese-ball effects and sets, great goofy dialogue, and cool locations that included a local quarry, Desoto Caverns, and Sloss Furnaces. (Full disclosure: a few of my friends were in it, so if you’re looking for me to bash it, you’re looking in the wrong place!)
Though the effects were intentionally chintzy for the most part, kudos must be given to the effects guys who came up with the super-cool space rover/go-cart thingee, which was undeniably cool. Big ups to Shirley as well, for hanging in there and getting it done! It’s people like him that are the lifeblood of this festival, which is to say, people who just love film and would do anything to make it- including maxing out credit cards, and having their mother put together the costumes! Gotta love it!
I had intended to go and see “Alabama Moon,” but the lines were a bit ridiculous and I was a whole lotta exhausted, so I opted to call it a day. All in all, great fun. Now if we could just get a few more homegrown- as in Alabama-made- films in the future, we’d really be onto something!
Can’t wait for next year…oh, and whoever did the mag, great job, and sorry for the swipe earlier! I kid, I kid, what can I say? What can I say, I’m a disgruntled would-be filmmaker my own damn self…Help!

Mark Trammell is an erstwhile Features Editor for UAB’s Kaleidoscope and a regular contributor. He also is an aspiring filmmaker himself. So there. And he meant that about the help…someone, anyone?

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 27^th. 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 25^th-27^th 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.