It’s that time of year again! No, not “International Housekeeper’s Week,” although I’m sure everyone’s super excited about that. This bit of news is just as good; District’s very own DC Shorts Film Festival is back for the fifth year in a row, starting on Thursday, September 11th.
The festival, described as,“one of the nation’s leading short film festivals,” takes place at various venues around D.C. and boasts a list of 102 films. Since this is a “short” film festival, each film has a run-time between one and fourteen minutes, and the films are divided into 9 different showcases (including a “Family Films” showcase for the kids!). The two featured films alone show the breadth of genre that this festival has to offer. The first is an Irish short by the name of The Confession, about a teenager’s confessions to a gossipy priest, while the second, The Inquisitive Snail, is a Claymation short, one minute in length which tells the tale of a spying snail. At the very least the titles of the myriad of movies serve as a point of interest, including Attack of the Hot Female Alien Man Eaters, Capture Claus, Boyfriend Latte, Gator Armstrong Plays With Dolls, Klu Klux Kornea, Smack Dem Christians Down’ Music Video, and Zombie Jesus!.
In terms of actual plot lines there are no doubt a few stand-outs within the festival. As a closet dart player, my attention was caught by a short that outlines D.C.’s darting crowd, entitled Flight of the Dart. Another rather poignant film, titled Nina Qubrada, details the life of a run-away Mexican girl who is forced into child prostitution. For some comedic relief, there’s always the classic tale, “Two super hot female aliens search Earth for meat and men,” as the festival’s website describes Attack of the Hot Female Alien Man Eaters, or the more well known saga about love, betrayal, and zombies taking the form of Jesus, as can be seen in Zombie Jesus!.
So whether you’re into documentaries, mockumentaries, crazy music videos, cartoons, dramas, or just all around ridiculousness packed into about four minutes of film, the D.C. Shorts Film Festival has something for you.
Tickets can be bought online at www.dcshorts.com for $13 and the festival will be continuing until the 18th of September.
