Short Cuts: DC Shorts Film Festival Runs Through Sunday
From Mary Burgan. Leave a comment or email her at [email protected]
DC Shorts runs through Sunday, September 18 with films shown in seven venues, six in DC and one in Arlington. Attending one of the showings of DC’s current film festival, DC Shorts, will probably give you several reactions.
- The films are too short to be satisfying. Some seem so brief as to be an extended joke (El Torero y La Toro). Others are so well written and acted that they seem like studies for a longer film (Little Horses). Some are memorable. Some are expendable.
- They tend to be made by very young film-makers who are heroic in their efforts to to produce them. Despite their brevity, each film had a lengthy list of credits, and each represents cajolement, persistence, and credit card debt — faith, hope and charity.
- Because of the promise of these short cuts, the festival enterprise deserves to be supported. The venue I attended breathed of creativity and optimism as well as cinematic know-how.
You probably can’t see all the films in the crowded, eleven-day schedule of this festival. But if you can fit one grouping into your entertainment menu, you won’t be sorry. And if you’re lucky, you’ll hear some of the film-makers explaining what they’re doing and why.
