Dam Short Film Festival celebrates 22nd year

Movie lovers can enjoy Nevada’s largest film festival as the 22nd Annual Dam Short Film Festival returns to screen more than 150 short films over a six-day period, Feb. 11-16 in the Elaine K. Smith Building.

With more than two decades of entertaining audiences, the Dam Short Film Festival will showcase 32 carefully-selected thematic 60- to 90-minute program blocks in categories including animation, comedy, documentary, drama, horror (presented on Friday the 13th), international, sci-fi, Nevada, love and romance (presented on Valentine’s Day), and underground.

This cultural experience features films from countries like Belgium, Finland, Georgia, India, France, Ireland, Sweden, Japan, Greece, and many more with this year’s trailer created and presented by local film company, Desert Cactus Films. Each short film will be presented using state-of-the-art digital projection in the Elaine K. Smith Building located at 700 Wyoming St.

“We are honored to have the support from our community and filmmakers for over two decades,” said Ken Cioe, director of operations. “Our success is a true testament of the audience and filmmakers’ desire for this type of artistic platform, and we will continue to present excellent and diverse short films from around the world.”

In addition to the screenings and filmmaker Q&As during each category block, the festival will feature a filmmaker meet-and-greet, Coffee with filmmakers, and Dam Mixer—giving audiences and filmmakers the opportunity to mix and mingle and learn more about the process and stories behind the films. As a bonus, a special program honoring the festival’s founder, “The Many Strange Films of Lee Lanier,” will highlight Lanier’s impactful work over the years.

Boulder City and its small-town charm will welcome visitors for the six days of festival fun, and many local businesses will offer discounts to guests with their festival badge, including a free chocolate on Valentine’s Day, courtesy of Grandma Daisy’s, to enjoy during the romance blocks.

This year, the festival will offer a $300 VIP experience that includes an all-access pass, early entry to all programs including the awards ceremony, an invitation to the Sunday Brunch with filmmakers, a swag bag, discount on concessions and merchandise, personal concierge, and free Boulder City booty.

Tickets are $12.50 per film block or $150 for the full five-day pass; one-day passes for Thursday are $45, and $55 for Friday and Saturday. For the full schedule of selected films, please visit damshortfilm.org.

Throughout its 22 years, Dam Short Film Festival has screened more than 2,600 films – giving local, state, national, and international filmmakers a platform to showcase their films, and audiences access to these unique and original stories.

About Dam Short Film Festival

Dam Short Film Festival, a 501(c)3 non-profit 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 worked in film production and computer animation since 1989 and directed a half-dozen short films.

Today, the Dam Short Film Festival has become a traditional Southern Nevada cultural event that attracts thousands of visitors to Boulder City each February. The festival has welcomed scores of filmmakers from all over the world and has screened several thousand unique independent short films during its history.