Feature: Boulder City's Dam Short Film Festival Returns for its 19th Year

Photo by Denise Jans

The charming small town of Boulder City, Nevada will welcome movie lovers to enjoy Nevada's largest film festival in person after two years of virtual-only experiences. The 19th Annual Dam Short Film Festival will screen 153 short films in downtown Boulder City over a 5-day period, February 16-20.

Audiences will experience 31 60- to 90-minute program clusters featuring four to 12 films shown in categories including Comedy, Animation, Drama, Documentary, Sci-Fi, Horror, International, Nevada, Music Videos, Love & Romance, and Underground. In addition to the screenings, there will be a filmmakers' Q&A during each category block. This year's festival features films from countries including Mexico, Iceland, China, Brazil, Israel, Netherlands, France, and Poland. The festival will also repeat four of the most popular programs on Monday and screen every award-winning film in two special programs.

"We are very excited to be back in person," said Lee Lanier, Co-Founder and Director of Continuity of Dam Short Film Festival. "One of the great things about a film festival like ours is the opportunity to hang out with other film lovers and film makers. The response of watching a film sitting with other audience members is enhanced."

The short films will be enjoyed by audiences using state-of-the-art digital projection in the Elaine K. Smith Center located at 700 Wyoming St.

The festival will feature a Coffee with Filmmakers, Filmmaker Meet-n-Greet, and Dam Mixer. The Sunday night Awards Presentation will also be live-streamed so everyone can tune in to find out which films won the audience-determined awards.

Dam Short Film Festival, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, was founded in 2003 by Lee and Anita Lanier. The pair developed a love of short films while traveling to numerous film festivals in the U.S., Canada, and Europe. Lee has worked in film production and computer animation since 1989 and directed six short films in the 1990s. In 2008, the festival moved to the historic Boulder Theatre. The festival has welcomed scores of filmmakers from all over the world and has screened several thousand unique independent short films during its history.

"We like the small-town atmosphere for the film festival," explains Lee, who also resides in Boulder City. "It is much more intimate and the events are closer together. It also brings in tourists and business to our town."

The Nevada Arts Council, a state agency, which receives support from the state of Nevada and the National Endowment for the Arts, funds the Dam Short Film Festival, in part. Nevada Humanities have funded this organization through Congress and the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Tickets are $12.50 per film block or $150 for the complete five-day pass, $45 for a day pass on Thursday and Monday, and $50 for a day pass on Friday and Saturday are also available. Tickets can be purchased at the Festival Box Office. For more information or the full schedule of selected films, visit damshortfilm.org. Follow on Facebook @damshortfilm, Twitter @damshortfilm, and Instagram @damshortfilm.

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