The Sidewalk Youth Board is a group of high school students from across the Birmingham area who share a love for movies. The Youth Board writes, produces, directs, edits, and eventually screens their own short film, which will also appear in the Sidewalk Film Festival lineup. Youth Board members also get to help our programming team choose films submitted by other teen filmmakers for consideration at the festival. The Youth Board is a year-long commitment for the 25 accepted students. These students not only gain hands-on experience in the process of filmmaking and facetime with professionals but foster skills in collaboration, communication, and confidence.
Youth Board Members:
- Learn about filmmaking from local professionals- scriptwriting, shooting, editing, and everything in between
- Produce a short film as a team that will premiere at the Sidewalk Film Festival
- Learn about film analysis and festival programming
- Get an inside look at how film festivals like Sidewalk operate throughout the year
- Serve as the screening committee and programmers for the Sidewalk Film Festival Teen Filmmaking Category.
Applications open in May for the 2026-2027 school year.