Sidewalk Film Festival will offer a series of screenings of short films, which are a wonderful–and usually low-cost–vehicle for cinematic experimentation, especially for young filmmakers. Several of the shorts blocks will present films made in Birmingham and Alabama.

UAB Digital City Shorts – Alabama School of Fine Arts. Sat., Aug. 25, 10:20 a.m.

This block presents short documentary films produced locally by students of the UAB Documentary Filmmaking Program. These films address local issues, including Birmingham’s hip-hop music scene (“Awake: Hip-Hop Artistry in Birmingham”) and the flaws in the city’s transit system (“Unfare System: Birmingham Public Transit”).

Alabama Comedy Shorts – Alabama Theatre. Sat., Aug. 25, 11 a.m.

The subjects of these short comedies range from the troubles of finding an escape from unsatisfying work life (“Why I Make Movies”) to the troubles of finding an escape from a zombie invasion (“Dead Ahead”).

Dual Shorts #1 – The Venue, 1612 Third Ave. North. Sat., Aug. 25, 2:40 p.m.

This program of national and local shorts will include the documentary “Cardboard Titanics: Smart People Being Stupid,” directed by Sam Frazier Jr., in which people devote their days off to building and racing boats made of cardboard and duct tape.

Alabama Kitchen Sink Shorts – Alabama School of Fine Arts. Sat., Aug. 25, 10:30 p.m.

This group of 10 short categorical anomalies includes an adaptation of a sci-fi short story about a bootlegger of butter and eggs (“Lipidleggin’”) and a story about a woman’s quest to find the perfect chair (“Crush”).

Alabama Killer Shorts – Red Mountain Theatre. Sun., Aug. 26, 12:35 p.m.

Five short horror films covering a number of terribly disconcerting notions, such as the uncertainty of reality (“Transfers”), mental self-entrapment (“The Way Home”), a prospective Apocalypse (“Josiah”), a pharmaceutical plot in a modern dystopia (“Blue of the Sky”) and a devastating plague (“One”).

Alabama Doc Shorts – Red Mountain Theatre. Sun., Aug. 26, 3 p.m.

Eight short documentary films made about issues relevant to the state of Alabama. Subjects of these documentaries include Alabama’s notoriously stringent anti-immigration bill (“Undocumented”) and the downsizing of Alabama’s psychiatric services (“The Bridge”).

And for those whose short-film hunger extends beyond the local, there will be five blocks of national short films screening during the weekend. These blocks will include animated, narrative and documentary shorts.

There will also be three blocks of shorts meant for kids and teens of various age groups, including some kids’ shorts from the Children’s Film Festival Seattle.

For all the details on the more than 100 shorts Sidewalk will show this year, go to www.sidewalkfest.com, click on “films,” then on “schedule.”