2006 Official Sidewalk Selections

A tragic-comic tale with surrealistic tendencies about a lost 23-year-old who is haunted by her disappointed 13-year-old self.

Post apocalyptic Frankenstein-ish fantasy

loudQUIETloud is the story of this unforseen plot twist. A deeply compelling portrait of four band members and their difficult, tense, and ultimately triumphant return.

"The Trials of Darryl Hunt" is a feature documentary about a brutal rape/murder case and a wrongly convicted man, Darryl Hunt, who spent nearly twenty years in prison for a crime he did not commit. Both a social justice story and a personally driven narrative, the film chronicles this capital case from 1984 through 2004. With exclusive footage from two decades, the film frames the judicial and emotional response to a chilling crime - and the implications that reverberate from Hunt's conviction - against a backdrop of class and racial bias in the South and in the American criminal justice system. This documentary is the culmination of ten years of research and filming. In 1993, inspired by claims of injustice and police conspiracy, the filmmakers began to shoot in North Carolina. Working from a mix of formats (16mm and 24P video) the film melds the visceral reality of a murder case with first person accounts and cinematic imagery, illuminating perceptions and memories of events as they unfolded for the people closest to this haunting story. This unique look at one man's loss and redemption challenges the assumption that all Americans have the right to unbiased justice. Hunt's story - while one man's personal journey - reflects systemic issues of national concern: cross-racial eyewitness identification, prosecutorial misconduct, inexperienced defense attorneys assigned to capital cases, racial bias in death penalty cases and errors in police procedure. Barry Scheck from The Innocence Project, who worked on Hunt's case for ten years, and Gary Wells, professor and eyewitness expert, offer concrete examples where errors occurred in Hunt's saga and offer future remedies and effective ideas to prevent future "Darryl Hunts." Hunt himself addresses the need for systemic reforms to prevent wrongful convictions, underscoring the haunting reality that Hunt could have been sentenced to death and we would never have known this story.

A group of Connecticut locals enroll in an adult-education beginner's swim class.

A traffic accident on a rural mountain road becomes a life changing experience for fifteen diverse travelers.

An improvisational take on the high school experience, told from the educators' point-of-view.

Following an incident on Halloween, the lives of a roofer, waitress, romantic rookie, and mysterious clairvoyant converge due to an undiscovered connection.

Skip Lipman, a suburban stay at home dad, embarks on an epic quest to topple a mighty empire in a full-contact Live Action Role Playing Game known as Darkon.

Local girls compete in a pageant to become queen at the world championship of muskrat skinning.

Two guys quit stodgy corporate jobs, scrounged up all the savings they could, collected credit cards, and stepped - or better yet - scooted forward to follow their biggest dream: to become filmmakers. Josh Caldwell rode a Segway from Seattle to Boston, while his buddy Hunter Weeks directed a film they both shot about the experience and about the moments leading up to this crazy twist on the American road trip. From cubicle farms to the open road, the film will chronicle how these guys ultimately changed their lives forever. They did what so many of us have always wanted to do - gave it all up for the passion inside.

"Danielson: a Family movie" is a documentary about unbridled creativity vs. accessibility, Christian faith vs. popular culture, underground music vs. survival, and family vs. individuality. The film follows Daniel Smith, an eccentric musician and visual artist, as he leads his four siblings and best friend to indie rock stardom, eventually facing the struggle to become viable as a solo act. Along the way he mentors an unknown singer-songwriter named Sufjan Stevens whose own subsequent success stands in stark contrast to the music world's uneasy reception of Danielson just a few years prior. Makes use of collage, direct cinema and animation.

After being diagnosed with a terminal cancer, Dennis moves with his girlfriend Lily to a new home, where he installs cameras and microphones everywhere to record his last months of life, in order that the material be used later to make a documentary. However, the devices capture the presence of another inhabitant there.

The relationships of three men are examined through their use of technology.

A mysterious power failure in a small mountain town coincides with the disappearance of one of its most eccentric young residents. Mystery piles upon mystery as his family and friends search for him, fail, and ultimately try to forget about him, an undertaking that results in many unexpected, and in some cases bizarre, effects on the town's already peculiar community.

Two young women accuse nine black youths of rape in the segregated South.

Class Act points out the importance of arts education in the public school system and the dire funding shortage which it is facing. The focus of the film is Miami Beach, Florida drama teacher Jay W. Jensen. Jensen's career has spanned over 40 years and his students have included actor Andy Garcia, director Brett Ratner and songwriter Desmond Child's.

'Time and Tide' is a drama examining the romantic relationships of one man's life. Jumping from past to present, the story focuses on the highs and lows of four specific affairs, alternately revealing passion, humor, beauty, and truth. Following the life of one man in present day Los Angeles, this film is also an exploration of memory. Although he is presently alone, Rob spends much of his time in the company of his romantic memories. The story jumps from past to present, from memory to memory, revealing pieces of several relationships. By revisiting each of these affairs, Rob discovers the person he needs to become if he is ever to find lasting love.

Awake, My Soul is a documentary about the Sacred Harp tradition, kept alive by amateur shape-note singers in the rural South.

A Georgia college student comes of age in a world surrounded by eccentric relatives, prankster classmates and ex-cons.

A documentary on kids who attend a summer camp hoping to become the next Billy Graham.

A petty thief's mentoring of an apparent orphan takes a profound turn when he kidnaps the boy from a foster home and drives him cross-country to his sister's house in Texas.

Young fantasy and science fiction aficionado Gavin Gore and his friends stumble onto some huge footprints in the woods. A local cop, reporter, and a renowned Sasquatch authority investigate, while two of Gavin's dim-witted neighbors hatch a scheme to profit from the situation.