DC Shorts Film Festival 2018 features more than 120 shorts
The "Cinema 10%" collection is dedicated to encounters of the LGBTQ kind
One of the largest festivals in the world of its kind, the 15th annual DC Shorts Film Festival has amassed more than 120 shorts running an average of 5 to 15 minutes each. The films are presented in 18 diverse Showcases, each screened twice on different days and times over the course of the event, which runs from Sept. 6 to 16.
Ten additional showcases, each screening once, are grouped into defined topics, including comedy, women’s issues, current events, international, and animation. Among these, “Cinema 10%” is an especially noteworthy collection dedicated to encounters of the LGBTQ kind (Wednesday, Sept. 12, at the Landmark E Street Cinema).
Other LGBTQ films are scattered throughout the standard showcases, and part of the joy of watching any collection of short films is in the discovery, taking delight in the variety of subject matter, styles, and genres on display. It’s like a Whitman’s Sampler. But on film.
The festival also features workshops for budding filmmakers (Friday, Sept. 7, from Noon to 6 p.m.; advance registration required), and assorted parties and receptions. Among the more unique highlights is a Screenplay Competition, held Friday, Sept. 14, at 7 p.m. at the Miracle Theatre (535 8th St. SE), in which six scripts are performed live for the audience, who will then vote to award one aspiring filmmaker $2,000 as seed money for their project. The evening concludes with the World Premiere of last year’s winner, The Pharaohs.
DC Shorts runs Thursday, Sept. 6. to Sunday, Sept. 16, with all Showcase screenings at the Landmark E Street Cinema (555 E St. NW), a few blocks from Metro Center. Individual Showcase tickets are $15, although an All Access Festival Pass, which gets you into all the showcases and the parties, is only $125. Can’t make it to everything? Fret not. Watch 103 of this year’s films online during the run of the festival for a mere $30.
For more details on this year’s festival, including brief synopses of all the films, pick up a copy of the official DC Shorts Program Guide at venues around town, or watch for it as an insert this week’s Washington City Paper. Call 202-393-4266 or visit dcshorts.org for more details.
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