What do “Madagascar,” “Fantasia,” and “George and Martha” have in common? Hippos. But which of those hippos are the real thing? “The Pursuit of Hippo-ness,” by Department of Communication Studies faculty member Alan Franks, is a documentary introducing audiences to the life of hippos and the people who adore them. Franks’ film explores how people can misrepresent an animal in the same way they romanticize a favorite celebrity.
“Hippos are the kind of animal that you can apply many faces to. Some of these people describe them as sort of this gray blob. And they’re open to interpretation,” said Franks.
Franks plans to finish a full-length documentary by next year.
“Feral” by students Matt Henton and Lane McCaig began as a class project. The short film is a documentary illustrating the negative, ecological effects of feral and outdoor cats on Birmingham--one problem being the decimation of the wild songbird population.
Initially, the film’s premise had been songbird advocates versus cat people, but later conducting additional interviews on a deadline, the film became a narrative of suffering. Henton says it establishes a connection between the cats’ overpopulation and their health problems, and exposes human negligence as the cause.
“Coming and Going” by student Kelsey Harrison is an experimental short film delving into the anxieties of a young woman as she waits on a friend.
“It’s kind of about this push and pull between arriving at places and leaving them,” says Harrison. “And the changes of life in general.”
Harrison, a graduate of the Alabama School of Fine Arts and one-time Memphis resident, says the ideas in the film reflect her own worries about adjusting to a new place and new people.
“Coming to terms with transformation, this inevitable change, the ephemerality of so many things—in my life and the world,” she says. “They’re themes that have always been close to me.”
“4th Down” by students Kourtney Cowart and Michael Shikany captures the effects of the discontinuation of UAB football—and its eventual reinstatement—on the local community.
“This topic was happening and unfolding at the time Michael and I needed a topic to shoot [for ethnographic film],” says Cowart, public relations and digital communication student. “We both love UAB and saw that there was so much more behind the initial story. We wanted to show the real emotion and effect that a decision this dramatic had on so many people.”
They interviewed former players, coaches, reporters, and others in the UAB community to assure they captured the impact of the decision had on people’s lives and futures.
“We wanted to keep the focus on the main people involved, the people who were most affected by the decision,” says Cowart. “This way others could see the importance of this issue and why people are so passionate about it.”
On Sept. 27, the full-length version of the film will premiere at Iron City, and UAB students and faculty will be admitted for free. The doors open at 5 p.m. and the showing will begin at 6 p.m.
“10-4 Birmingham” by students Piyush Borse and Karan Jani examines the Birmingham Police Department of the 1960s and how it became a nationally recognized model of community police relations.
“It seemed that there was a new report of police brutality and misconduct every single day,” says Jani. “So, I began to wonder what the climate of policing was here in Birmingham, especially given the BPD’s brutalization of this city’s communities during the Civil Rights Era; I wanted to hear the officers’ stories and just the general police-perspective on the situation.”
Borse, a neuroscience major, and Jani, a philosophy and pre-med student, took on their first film project as newcomer videographers.
According to Jani, they tried to create a film with equal parts content and immersive action. “We simply asked questions, received answers, and buckled up for the ride—quite literally, as our ride-along interviews tended to get a bit hectic,” Jani says.
“We were pleasantly surprised by a spectrum of police activities and operations taking place in Birmingham that clearly contrasted with the negative outlook much of the public holds,” Borse says.
The pair are producing a second film on the BPD, and they hope to have it ready in October.
“Seizing the Unrecorded” by biology and anthropology alumna Ingrid Pfau is an autobiographical look at the filmmaker’s career and battle with epilepsy. Pfau’s film explores the question: “How can something you love doing be bad for you?” It has travelled to several locations before Sidewalk, and its next stop will be Hidden Truth’s Art Show for Epilepsy in October.
