Congratulations to the Sidewalk alumni nominated for the 2023 Independent Spirit Awards this morning! Sidewalk is always thrilled when the films we select to showcase to the Birmingham area are more widely recognized as being among the best of the year — and this year, a fantastic selection of films we’ve shown at this year’s festival and at the cinema have been acknowledged.
The slate of nominees was led by A24’s spring sensation “Everything Everywhere All At Once,” which picked up a whopping eight nominations, including best feature and best director and best screenplay for writer/directors Daniels. One-half of Daniels, Birmingham native Daniel Scheinert, has often credited Sidewalk for helping kickstart his filmmaking career. We played “Everything Everywhere All At Once” for weeks at the cinema, and it looks to continue its awards season dominance as the year goes on.
We’re incredibly proud of Sidewalk Alum Liz Cardenas who is nominated for the Independent Spirit Producers Award. Liz produced Sidewalk titles “A Ghost Story”, “Never Goin’ Back” and “7 Days” and was the writer of the Sidewalk short film “Imago” which received the 2017 Shout Jury Special Mention. Sidewalk was proud to host the world premiere of the family film “Summer’s Shadow” written by Liz way back in 2014. Way to go Liz!
Winner of the 2022 Sidewalk jury awards for best Black Lens feature and best narrative feature, Ellie Foumbi’s debut feature “Our Father, the Devil,” was a surprise nominee in the Indie Spirits’ best feature category. Star Babetida Sadjo also won a Black Lens Special Mention for Performance from the 2022 Sidewalk jury.
And Todd Field’s “Tár,” which we’ll be opening at the cinema on Nov. 25, was a nominee in many categories. The acclaimed film has gotten attention for Cate Blanchett’s lead performance since its festival premiere earlier in the fall.
Other Sidewalk cinema alumni popped up throughout the nominees: You may have seen best director nominee Halina Reijn’s “Bodies Bodies Bodies” at the cinema, or lead performance nominees Mia Goth for “Pearl” and Regina Hall for “Honk For Jesus. Save Your Soul.” The uncategorizable “Nepture Frost,” a queer Afrofuturist sci-fi musical, picked up recognition for its cinematography after playing at Sidewalk in the summer. And just because he’s small doesn’t mean he isn’t mighty — “Marcel the Shell with Shoes On” picked up a nomination for best editing after its popular run at the cinema in August.
And if you caught the dark comedy “Funny Pages” at the 2022 festival, you may recall best breakthrough performance nominee Daniel Zolghardi in the lead role. And we are thrilled that Isabel Castro who directed the Sidewalk 2022 documentary “Mija” is a nominee for the Indie Spirits’ Truer Than Fiction award. Mija received a Documentary Feature Special Mention from the Sidewalk 2022 jury. Also nominated for the Truer Than Fiction award, writer/director Rebeca Huntt for the Sidewalk Cinema film “Beba”.
Congratulations to all the nominees, Sidewalk is proud to have been a stop on the journey of so many of these wonderful films and filmmakers. Check out the full list here.
Keep an eye on the Sidewalk Cinema schedule – we hope to bring several other Independent Spirit nominated films to Birmingham including “Aftersun” and “The Inspection”. Plus announcing: “All the Beauty and the Bloodshed” is scheduled to screen at the Sidewalk Cinema in December.
Love,
Your Sidewalk Programming Team Besties
Corey Craft & Rachel Morgan