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The Ramble: Other thoughts on recent discussion of Sidewalk

Here are some links to the latest entries regarding the resignation of Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival co-founder/executive director Erik Jambor and planned changes to the 8+ year old festival. Here’s a link to our first post about the news, including a link to a post with details of the announcement by Wade Kwon.

Blogs

So Ends an Era – An Utter Waste of Time

Where the Sidewalk Ends – Gabe’s Declaration of Principles

News sources

Sidewalk film festival founding director resigns, The Birmingham News, 12.1.2006

It’s been as more of a fly on the wall that I’ve been watching the words fly across the screen about this. This festival is no doubt an asset to Birmingham, Alabama. I am interested in waiting until the dust settles before making a decision as rash as boycotting a festival that Jambor himself seems to want to see succeed based on his comments in the Birmingham News article.

The idea of boycotting sounds like leaving a church to follow a minister. Many ministers are flattered, but they would tell you that you’re probably attending church for the wrong reason. I’m also not going to follow blindly; I am willing to give people a chance.

If you enjoy what this festival means to you at any level – seeing films that you would otherwise not be able to see, having an opportunity to talk with filmmakers about their craft, providing a venue for this state to showcase some of its best and brightest filmmakers and seeing friends (much in the same way that some spoke of City Stages during their town hall meeting), then you have a choice to make.

I’d love to hear what plans the Sidewalk board has for the future and so long as they don’t rush and make the wrong decision, unfortunately waiting will be the best thing to do right now to see what will happen. After that, as I’ve mentioned recently on another topic, the public can vote with it’s wallets about what it thinks about decisions.

Let us know what you think – post ’em if you’ve got ’em.

Enjoy the day.

Cheers.

 

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