Films in Under 20 Minutes at DC Shorts Film Festival

The DC Shorts Film Festival brings together 97 short films from 11 countries, all ranging from just one minute to upwards of 20 minutes in length.  The themes include just about every genre of film, including drama, comedy, animation, sci-fi, documentaries and experimental films, along with one really great short about a young man and relentless phone calls from his mother in Banana Bread, the short which will open this year’s festival.

Additionally, “Music by Prudence,” the 2010 Oscar-winning film for Best Documentary Short Film will be presented followed by a moderated Q&A session following the screening with the director, Roger Ross Williams.

The DC Shorts Film Festival, in its 7th year, takes over Landmark’s E Street Cinema and the US Navy Memorial’s Burke Theater featuring 9 different showcases, all shown in high-def HD and include 8-12 shorts per screening (about 2 hours each.)

A free family-friendly showcase will be shown at both locations on Saturday, September 11th.  And during the lunch hour on September 13, 14 and 15, the festival will be showing 3 unique free screenings of about 45 minutes each at noon at Landmark’s E-Street Theatre.  The three lunch time screenings include documentaries from around the globe on the 13th, humorous films on the 14th and film made by local DC filmmakers on the 15th.

“Shorts” or short subject films tend to be less expensive to create and were the original form of early film making. But as feature films grew in length, the short became more of a less popular.   Shorts tended to be cartoons, exposés, newsreels or comedies, often shown between double features.   By the 1960s, shorts, lacking a good distribution model, were harder to find.  But with the  popularity of YouTube focusing on shorter clips and films , as well as studios such as Pixar adding a short to their feature films, the short is again a popular format.

Jon Gann, the festival’s passionate Director calls his DC festival “a filmmakers festival” drawing film makers from around the country and globe to showcase their work to the Washington DC audience.

Check the festival’s schedule for the festival’s full list, screening times, previews and film descriptions.

DC Shorts Film Festival
Locations:

• Landmark’s E Street Cinema — 555 11th Street, NW, Washington DC  (map)
• US Navy Memorial — 701 Pennsylvania Ave, NW, Washington DC  (map)

Dates and Times – September 9-16, 2010.

Tickets – $12.00 per screening (plus $1.00 surcharge) and are available online or at the box office of each theater.  Multi-passes of 3 for $30, 5 for $45 and all access for $125 are also available.

Nearest Metro Subway Station – E street – Metro Center – Blue, Orange and Red lines, then a 1-block walk. Navy Memorial – Archives-Navy Memorial-Penn Quarter, Green and Yellow lines

Parking – Metered street and reduced rate garage parking ($10.00 with validation for up to 3 hours) is available adjacent to Landmark’s E-Street Theatre, Monday-Friday after 5:00 p.m. and all day on weekends. Parking at the Navy Memorial theater includes limited metered and paid garage parking.

Images – Courtesy of DC Shorts Film Festival.