24th Annual Sidewalk Film Festival presented by Regions Bank

The Sun Rises in The East chronicles the birth, rise and legacy of The East, a pan-African cultural organization founded in 1969 by teens and young adults in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. Led by educator and activist Jitu Weusi, The East embodied Black self-determination, building more than a dozen institutions, including its own African-centered school, food co-op, newsmagazine, publisher, record label, restaurant, clothing shop and bookstore.

An African immigrant’s quiet existence in a small mountain town in the south of France is upended by the arrival of an African priest, whom she recognizes from her past

Wanda Johnson and Angela Williams, mothers of young Black men victimized by police brutality, come together and build a network of community-led support, mutual aid, and healing in this documentary spanning Oakland’s Fruitvale to the American South. Long before George Floyd’s murder and the BLM protests in 2020, Oscar Grant’s 2009 fateful encounter with law enforcement on a BART platform seeded public awareness and cultural consciousness of systemic racism and its discontents. Paying forward lessons learned and advocating against anti-Black violence in memory of her son, Oscar, Wanda Johnson holds space for Angela Williams, whose teen son, Ulysses, survives a police encounter in Troy, Alabama, living to tell his story. Radical empathy fuels this timely exposé.

The Color of Care chronicles how people of color suffer from systemically substandard healthcare. COVID-19 exposed what they have long understood and lived: they do not receive the same level of care. Produced by Ms. Winfrey’s Harpo Productions and directed by Oscar-nominated and Emmy-winning director Yance Ford, the film traces the origins of racial health disparities to practices that began during slavery and continue today. Using moving personal testimony, expert interviews, and disturbing data the film reveals the impact of racism on health, serving as an urgent warning of what must be done to save lives.

By his own admission Duquette Johnston has lived a "wild, incredible life," but even that might be underselling the 25-year journey that’s taken him from the spotlight with breakout 90’s indie band Verbena all the way down to the Etowah County Correctional Facility and then back to Birmingham, opening a clothing store in Woodlawn and releasing a critically acclaimed new record this year. Etowah: A Film about Duquette Johnston is the story of an artist that went to the brink… and came back to tell about it.
This screening will be followed by a Q & A and live perfomance by Duquette Johnston.

Don't Deserve This - Yasmina
Directed by Jivensley Alexis, Reece Daniels
3 minutes • USA
In a music video for her new single, 'Don't Deserve This,' Yasmina, feeling often unheard in her relationship, starts her own one woman show. A tribute to Pam Grier and the kick-ass confidence of the women in 1970s blaxploitation films, this is 'Don't Deserve This!'

Between There and Here - Hrishikesh Hirway
Directed by Prashanti Aswani, Hrishikesh Hirway
5 minutes • USA
This animated music video for Hrishikesh Hirway's new single "Between There and Here" featuring Grammy-award winning cellist Yo-Yo Ma was directed by Hrishikesh Hirway with animator Prashanti Aswani and was co-written with New York Times and international best-selling author Jonny Sun.

Mood19 - Lule
Directed by Kevon Pryce
3 minutes • USA

Clouds - Zero Trust
Directed by Jeremiah Dickey
4 minutes • USA
"Clouds" is a song about the labor of love through a lens of intergenerational care, helping others navigate the path to self-actualization and reclaiming lost potential.

Oliver Tree & Little Big - Turn It Up (feat. Tommy Cash)
Directed by Oliver Tree, Alina Pasok Pasok, Maxim Semyonov
4 minutes • Russian Federation

Gondola Ride - The Envied
Directed by Alex Gibson
5 minutes • USA
The Envied sing about the sensual desires and lust of a forbidden relationship, weaving lyrics and haunting melodies to tell the story of a couple pulling deeper into a place of no return.

1955 - Onry
Directed by Martin Melnick
7 minutes • USA
Award-winning Portland opera singer Onry summons the spirit of Emmett Till and explores the time slippage of Black trauma.

Aquarian Devils
Directed by Kamara Thomas
4 minutes • USA
Music video for the Durham, NC band of the same name. Pandemic-inspired and featuring anxiety, sparks, and masks of several kinds.

Don't Come Home - Emily Rooker
Directed by Emily Rooker, Mitchel Carter
5 minutes • USA
This is the music video for Memphis-based musician Emily Rooker's single "Don't Come Home." Starring five members of the Memphis pole dancing community and shot at Bartlett Performing Arts and Conference Center, the video tells the story of five women getting fed up with their unreliable partner and deciding to make their own way in life. This music video hinges on the female gaze and the exploration of sexuality and who it belongs to.

Bellringer - Linqua Franqa
Directed by Nolan Huber-Rhoades
5 minutes • USA
Blending live-action cinematography and experimental animations, Bellringer tells the story of Latasha Harlins, a Black 16-year-old whose murder by a Korean grocery store owner in 1991 served as a catalyst for the LA Riots in 1992. Her name, like that of many Black women, is often erased from discussions of the uprisings. The animated part of the film brings hand-painted scenes of Latasha's murder, funeral, and the ensuing Los Angeles riots to life. 

GamGino
Directed by J. Gino Cyrus
4 minutes • USA
An Orlando-based artist reenacts the first two seasons of Donald Glover's award-winning series "Atlanta."

I. The Void - Shovel
Directed by Alexandros Papathanasopoulos
6 minutes • Greece
An acid trip takes an eerie turn during a heavy metal apartment gig.

ADHD - SÄYE SKYE
Directed by Sina Dolati
5 minutes • Canada
ADHD, the music video, celebrates Attention Hyperactivity Disorder as a superpower.

The Plastic Outhouse - John Jupiter
Directed by John Jupiter
5 minutes • USA

Comeback - Memphis Willcox
Directed by Jason OBiren
6 minutes • USA
Music video for Memphis Willcox's song "Comeback", a song reflecting his own personal struggle with drugs and alcohol.

Just This Once - Angel Hilson
Directed by Ken Stevenson
4 minutes • USA

Sandbox - Jupie
Directed by Jake Armstrong
3 minutes • USA
A robot on the quest for gas to stay operating? Or something more?

Woman on the Move - Malcolm McRae
Directed by Keene McRae
4 minutes • USA
The music video for 'Woman on the Move' takes what singer and songwriter Malcolm McRae facetiously sings about (believing that he is growing as a person - while in reality he's actually stuck in a growth-less loop) and makes it literal. Malcolm is trapped inside a labyrinth of doorways and the harder he tries to exit, the more he hurts himself. As Malcolm sings, the injuries and head wrappings help reveal the irony of the line "looking back it doesn't seem that bad."

Angelic - Dalby
Directed by Video Rahim
4 minutes • USA
This song is an expression of love from a scared and doubtful perspective. Love is often considered a foreign concept to people who have been hurt by it or have trouble allowing themselves to get attached.

Follow You - Gordy Bridgeford
Directed by John Utter
5 minutes • USA
Do you know who is following you?

Living While Black in Japan
Directed by Shiho Fukada and Keith Bedford
15 minutes • Japan
Documentary, Black Lens
Despite being in a smaller minority in Japan than in their home country, African-Americans still express feelings of safety and freedom. Yet, racism in the U.S. still plays a role in their lives. In this short film, several African-Americans living in Japan discuss how their encounters with police and racism in the U.S. played into their decision to live abroad and how leaving the U.S. changed their perceptions of who they are and their connection to the country of their birth.

Ashima
Directed by Dillon M. Banda
7 minutes • Hong Kong
Documentary, Black Lens
Filmed across the Hong Kong islands, 'Ashima' follows Natacha Maboma, a young Cameroonian-American woman who, at the time of making the film, had been living and travelling abroad in Asia for 3 years.

My Duduś
Directed by Tom Krawczyk
8 minutes • USA
Documentary, Family Film
A Polish mother grieves when her only child leaves their home in the suburbs of Chicago to study in Poland. While her son is away, she finds a baby squirrel in her backyard and forges a unique and powerful bond with the animal, raising him as if he were her own child.

Soldier
Directed by Justin Zimmerman
22 minutes • USA
Documentary, Alabama Film
SOLDIER focuses on Daniel Krug: a heroic firefighter, father of five, SWAT trainer and armored combat enthusiast. Daniel is also a former sniper, with ten years of combat, security, rescue and recovery experience in Iraq. And over the past decade, he's lost 11 of his close military friends - and almost lost himself - to PTSD.

The American Frontier 
Directed by Edward Frumkin
16 minutes • USA
Documentary, Life & Liberty
The American Frontier looks at Hollywood’s depiction of the Old West. With archival footage and scholarly interviews, the film examines the influence of Westerns and how it impacts society through its portrayals of Indigenous people, gun culture, and the idolization of cowboys. 

Lalito 10
Directed by Jordan Matthew Horowitz
17 minutes • USA
Documentary, Family Film
When COVID-19 forced his school to close and remote learning proved impossible, a teacher in Guatemala built a classroom on wheels to bring education directly to his students.

The Meaning of Movement
Directed by Antonio R. Garcia
4 minutes • USA
Documentary, Black Lens, Family Film
A short, experiential look into what movement, music, art and Hip Hop means to Xavier Lewis, a professional choreographer and artist.

Elvis of Laos
Directed by Van Ditthavong
12 minutes • USA
Documentary, Family Film
Through dance and conversations - a famous Lao singer, his son, and his granddaughter examine the artist's life, inspirations, and legacy after leaving the war torn country in late 1974.

VISIONS
Directed by Karina Lomelin Ripper
10 minutes • USA
Documentary, Life & Liberty
Composed of intimate interviews, VISIONS is kaleidoscope portrait of three First-Generation Americans. A hypnotic short documentary, that explores their journeys and focuses on the elation of these creatives making their art.

The Originals 
Directed by Cristina Maria Costantini, Alfie Kim Koetter
10 minutes • USA
Documentary, Family Film
Matty "Square" Ruggiero and his childhood friends tell their story of what it was like to grow up in South Brooklyn, where money was tight but friendships were tighter.

The story of Sinéad O'Connor's rise to worldwide fame, and how her iconoclastic personality resulted in her exile from the pop mainstream. Focusing on prophetic words and deeds across a six-year period (1987-1993), the film reflects on the legacy of this fearless trailblazer, through a contemporary feminist lens.

Conducting Life
Directed by Diane Moore
31 minutes • USA
Black Lens, Documentary
In the rarified world of classical music, the road to success is a daunting one. Especially for young conductors. CONDUCTING LIFE follows the remarkable journey of Roderick Cox as he tirelessly pursues his dream — to secure a top position with a major orchestra. Poignant and revealing, this is a story about the passion, sacrifice, and courage it takes to succeed in an elusive profession with limited opportunities.

When I Grow Up - Reflections of a Freedom Rider
Directed by Chris Preitauer
32 minutes • USA
Black Lens, Documentary
Trauma experienced by a seven-year-old sets him on a course to become a civil rights legend and change the course of a nation.

The Village That Once Was
Directed by Tyrrell Shaffner
31 minutes • USA
Black Lens, Documentary
In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, a seamstress and a community organizer from the Lower Ninth Ward embark on a fifteen year-long odyssey to return home that's obstructed by broken promises, racism, and indifference.

Mr. Ashley Lived Here
Directed by Hannah Timmons
27 minutes • USA
Black Lens, Documentary
Through interviews and hand drawn animation, Mr. Ashley Lived Here looks back at the lives of six individuals that grew up in the sharecropping community on the filmmaker's family farm and former plantation in the heart of central Louisiana.

The Real Estate Mix Tape Synopsis “THE REAL ESTATE MIX TAPE” is an episodic, docu-series that follows actor, filmmaker and real estate developer, Malik Yoba, as he pursues his first commercial real estate (CRE) deal in New York. As the founder and CEO of YOBA Development, Malik, along with a diverse group of young, aspiring professionals interested in learning about the CRE industry, journey the often opaque world of CRE development. Malik will provide them awareness, access and advocacy as he works to navigate and secure his first deal.

Little Boy Short Film Synopsis Written , directed, edited and produced by Malik Yoba, with a running time of approximately 12 mins, "Little Boy" explores how the wisdom of children who witness the unresolved conflicts between co- parents can both challenge parents to self-reflect, or not, while simultaneously force them to navigate the consequences of their choices. Written primarily from the point view of the father, reflecting on his unrequited dream of a healthy loving family, this tale is also seen through the intersecting perspective of mother and son. Raw and emotionally provocative, it’s honesty inspires necessary conversation around building healthy families.