Sidewalk Film Festival
THE 28TH ANNUAL SIDEWALK FILM FESTIVAL PRESENTED BY REGIONS BANK WILL TAKE PLACE AUGUST 24TH – 30TH, 2026 IN DOWNTOWN BIRMINGHAM’S HISTORIC THEATRE DISTRICT, OFFERING SCREENINGS OF MORE THAN 200 FILMS, FILMMAKER Q&AS, PANELS, WORKSHOPS, NETWORKING EVENTS AND PARTIES.
Attend the Festival
Get pass info, ticket prices, and accessibility accommodations for the annual festival week.
How-to-Fest & Map
Plan your festival weekend with the venue map and first-timer tips for navigating the Magic City.
Lineup & Guide
Browse the full catalog of feature narrative, documentary, and specialty films showing this year.
Festival Schedule
View the day-by-day parallel schedule grid and plan your screenings across all venues.
Shorts Programs
Explore our themed short film packages featuring student, documentary, narrative, and local work.
Awards & Juries
Meet our panel of jury members and browse the annual award winners and categories.
Filmmaker Submissions
View deadlines, submission rules, and guidelines for screenplays and films on FilmFreeway.
Perfecting the Festival Experience
We may be biased, but we think a bag of popcorn in a dimly lit theater is the perfect way to wrap up your summer. Established in 1999 as the flagship program of the Sidewalk Film Center and Cinema, Sidewalk Film Festival has perfected the trifecta of quality film programming, filmmaker networking, and pure fun. Repeatedly recognized by MovieMaker Magazine as one of the Top 25 Festivals in the World and by TIME Magazine as one of the Top 10 Festivals for the Rest of Us, Sidewalk annually brings over 250 independent films to The Magic City. Low-priced passes, a concentrated footprint, and Southern Hospitality encourage filmmakers and attendees alike to connect during the festival week.
Specialty Programming Tracks
Sidewalk actively strives to bring a variety of films to its audience. To that end, we are pleased to highlight civil and social issues in our Life & Liberty Track, diversity-related topics and black filmmakers in our Black Lens track, female filmmakers in our Women in Film track, Spanish and Portuguese language films in our Festival de Cine track, and LGBTQ filmmakers and content with our SHOUT track. As an Alabama festival, we also spotlight local filmmakers with our Alabama track.