14 Films to See at the 2015 Sidewalk Film Festival

This will be my third year attending Sidewalk Film Festival and there is just something about this three-day extravaganza in Birmingham, Alabama that gets me more excited than just about anything else that happens all year.

It's not just the fact that there are so many good films to see that you will inevitably kick yourself for missing one simply because you chose another (a great problem to have). It's not just the fact that they close down 3rd Avenue and have a street party all weekend long with food and games and vendors. It's not just that the Taste of 4th Avenue Jazz Festival is one block away, adding even more electricity to the city. It's not just the amazing staff of Sidewalk—all of whom I admire so deeply. It's not even just the cake bites from Urban Standard.

It's all of this and more—an x-factor, if you will—that this incredible film festival possesses. A charm all it's own, amazing theaters, wonderful film programming, great parties, delectable food. I'm gushing, I know, but I simply can't help it. Sidewalk is The Perfect Storm.

At the heart of it, though, is truly the love of film. It reflects in their program every year and this year is certainly no exception! I have compiled a list of 14 can't-miss films for you to check out this year, and then added 8 more that you might have already seen on the Georgia film festival circuit, but certainly warrant a revisit.

Review: "Fort Tilden" (**)

Clare McNulty and Bridey Elliott star in "Fort Tilden."

The tagline for “Fort Tilden” might as well have been something that's similarly self-indulgent and self-aware like hashtagwhitegirlproblems. It was a film that I found to be extremely disappointing. I went into “Fort Tilden” with high hopes; this is exactly the kind of movie that, generally, I love: smaller, independent quirky comedies where the humor isn’t forced and the characters aren’t flat. Written and directed by both Sarah-Violet Bliss and Charles Rogers, this film was painstaking in its evocation of reality for its two primary characters: Allie (Clare McNulty) and Harper (Bridey Elliott).

The Local Lense: #GAfilm Updates 8/6 - Julia Roberts, Jennifer Aniston, "The Walking Dead"

Julia Roberts, Jennifer Aniston, Jason Sudeikis, Kate Hudson, Jennifer Garner and more! Hosts Beth Keener and Greer Howard bring you the 411 on entertainment news in Georgia. Find out what's filming, who's here and what to watch!

This week, catch up on the details of "Mother's Day" from director Garry Marshall, which will star Julia Roberts, Jennifer Aniston, Kate Hudson and Jason Sudeikis (to film in Atlanta); "Coat of Many Colors," an NBC TV movie about Dolly Parton's early life (to film in Metro Atlanta), and "Miracles from Heaven," starring Jennifer Garner and Queen Latifah (currently shooting in Atlanta).

Find out what roles Ethan Embry, Merritt Wever and Corey Hawkins will play in "The Walking Dead." NBC just announced a deal with Atlanta-based producer Will Packer to produce a new Atlanta-set and shot drama titled "Buckhead." Also, check out updates from locally produced TV programs like "The Carbonaro Effect" and "The Dinner Project."

10th Annual Macon Film Festival Kicks Off with "Mavis!" (****)

Mavis Staples stars as Mavis Staples in her documentary called "Mavis!" (Staples).

“I’ll stop singing when I have nothing left to say… and that ain’t gonna happen.” That’s our introduction to Mavis Staples in the Jessica Edwards' documentary “Mavis!” Mavis is a wildly compelling and gregarious 76-year-old with a voice that booms like thunder. The exclamation point that end caps the title of the film is so perfectly befitting—it’s a wonder she doesn’t simply spell her name that way; the title is screaming at you with a smile and a buoyancy that floats you through the film. Mavis is without a doubt, the living, breathing, heart-pumping definition of an exclamation point, radiating a charisma and earnestness so vivid and loud that it nearly knocks you out of your chair.