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September 29, 2008

Sidewalk in Pictures

I forgot to mention that when I got on the plane en route to Birmingham this past Thursday, the lady at security took a gander at my drivers' license and said "oh, it's you!" This either means that I've hit a new apex in traveling (which may be true, but I've also got a long way to go) or, more likely, that that I have an instantly recognizable license.

I'd initially planned on documenting Sidewalk in pictures, as I did at Sundance in January, but I wound up taking only a single photo over the weekend. Depicted below are Ashley Sabin, who along with David Redmon won the Best Documentary award for their film Intimidad; Clay Liford, who premiered his short film My Mom Smokes Weed to much acclaim; and, betwixt the two of them, Thomas the Driver, who tirelessly shuttled us to and fro throughout the festival, partaking in the merriment and generally being a superstar. He was the life of the party, especially when that party spilled over from the bars to his van.

Sidewalk lived up to all the anticipation I'd applied to it; two years in a row now, it's provided the most relaxing festival experience I've had with my films (that I was good friends with just about all the visiting filmmakers, even moreso than last time, certainly didn't hurt). There were two standout moments; the first, at the opening night party, when everyone gathered at bar, tucked away on sleepy street, with free beer on tap and, miraculously, no music to get in the way of conversation. The mood was quietly electric; everyone was just really happy to be there, and we gradually drifted from inside to the cool outdoors and the cobblestone avenue, talking and talking and drinking and talking. It was like a deeply Southern version of the late night communes at the patio bar of Le Grand Hotel in Cannes, and in its sustained, freewheeling congeniality it summed up everything I loved about this festival.

The second thing that'll stick with me after all the festival hopscotch wears off was when Clay, Frank and I served as the jury for the teenage short film program. We gave the grand prize to a girl who'd made a terrific little handdrawn animated film. It was an easy choice; she'd put more care and natural talent into each frame than most of her peers had put into their entire pieces, and we told her that we hoped being rewarded for it would inspire her to continue on this path. She won Final Cut Studio, which is a heck of a prize, if I do say so myself.

I watched a lot of films, too - but I'm going to have to write about Let The Right One In in a separate entry.

Now I'm in Chicago, where I took a second photo, this one depicting my famous pink backpack, the Pelican case containing one of the St. Nick hard drives, and Frank Ross' feet.

I'll be slowing down slightly, staying here for the next month or so, working on Frank's new feature. It's one of the best scripts I've read in ages; I'm really honored that I get to be a part of it. I also heard that last year it snowed in mid-October. My hopes are already up.

P.S.One last picture, courtesy of Blood Car director (and The Adventure producer) Alex Orr.

The only person not immediately recognizable in the recesses of this mafia booth is Glory At Sea helmer Benh Zeitlin, who I was happy to be programmed alongside once more, and who is apparently quite the crooner of traditional Irish folksongs. I didn't get to witness his performance, however, since I retired early from the closing night party with a killer tooth ache. I think I need a root canal.

Posted by David Lowery at September 29, 2008 8:14 PM

Comments

Posted by: Clay Liford at September 29, 2008 10:40 PM

Posted by: Anna at October 6, 2008 4:32 PM

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