Sideshow

Sideshow is a feature film that blends the remnants of Victorian Bay Area décor with the fast-paced spectacle of present car culture. The project is divided into six theatrical acts, each centered around vehicles performing elaborate stunts at the sideshow/street takeover — ranging from a hibachi restaurant inside a box truck performing donuts as food fills the air, to a Victorian house mounted on a monster truck chassis. Each act flows into the next through shared objects or lines of dialogue, immersing viewers in a shifting, chaotic rhythm that mirrors the instability of a real sideshow.

The film collaborates directly with Bay Area youth, artists, and community members, reframing a practice dismissed by the media as vehicular misconduct or criminal as a legitimate form of expression. Shot guerrilla-style during live, planned events, the project lays the foundation for a practical, legal alternative to sideshows by using film as a catalyst for shifting cultural perspectives — including those of the participants themselves.

Acting as a connective force, the film aims to bridge the divide between those who want these events abolished and those who want to preserve them, proposing a compelling artistic middle ground. In doing so, it reimagines sideshows as a kind of contemporary circus, echoing the original meaning of the word “sideshow.”