JURY BIOS
Narratives:
AARON HILLIS is Vice-President of the boutique label Benten Films, the editor of GreenCine Daily, and a regular contributor to The Village Voice, LA Weekly, IFC, and Spin. His co-directorial feature debut, Fish Kill Flea, played at Sidewalk in 2007.
KURT KUENNE, a native Californian, has been making films since childhood and is now an award winning filmmaker and composer. His documentary, Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father, played Sidewalk in 2008 as a part of a worldwide festival tour.
PAULA MARTINEZ is the Managing Director of the Atlanta Film Festival, speaks regularly at industry events like the International Film Festival Summit and has acts in numerous short films and commercials. She holds an MBA from Mercer University and a B.A. from Oglethorpe University.
Documentaries:
APRIL SIMMONS CASKIE has been programming, teaching and making films and videos for over ten years. Her work has screened at The Ann Arbor Film Festival, The Boston Museum of Art and The Anthology Film Archives of New York City. She currently splits her time between the farmlands of North Florida and the City of Baltimore.
ANDY GRACE is a documentary filmmaker at the University of Alabama's Center for Public Television and Radio. His films have appeared on Alabama Public Television, Current Television and Wyoming Public Television. He has also worked as a news producer for NPR and Voice of America.
HEIDI VAN LIER is an indie filmmaker living in Los Angeles. She has made 3 feature films, one of which, "Chi Girl", won the Grand Jury Prize at the Slamdance Film Festival. Heidi now programs for the Slamdance Film Festival. She recently authored The Indie Film Rule Book, a guide for indie filmmakers looking to tackle the festival circuit.
Shorts:
SKIZZ CYZYK is a true member of the Sidewalk family, having served on the jury since the organization's inception in 1999. He is a filmmaker and film festival guru, having founded and directed Baltimore's MicroCineFest, served as programming manager for Maryland Film Festival, and juror and advisory board member for Slamdance. He is a resident of Baltimore.
ZACK GODSHALL holds an MFA in Film Directing from UCLA and now lives and works in his native southern Louisiana where he teaches film and screenwriting at LSU. His first feature film, Low and Behold, was an official selection of Sundance 2007. His documentary, God's Architects is screening at Sidewalk 2009.
JOE SWANBERG is a three time Sidewalk alumni whose narrative feature, Alexander the Last, is screening at Sidewalk this year. In addition to his feature film work, he directs and produces Young American Bodies, a popular web series. He studied film production at Southern Illinois University and currently resides in Chicago.
