In its 8th year, the Dam Short Film Festival puts on a great showcase of 108 short films in a small town setting in Boulder City, Nevada. It was my first time attending this festival and I was very impressed. The wide variety of programs start at 11am in the morning and run until 11pm. Being the Founder of Social Media Film Festival, I opted to get the weekend pass so I could see as many films as possible. I skipped the last programs of each day as it’s a good 45 minute drive to and from my home in Las Vegas. If I had a chance in catching the 11am program the next day, skipping the 11pm program was ideal.

Some films at DSFF I had seen at other local film festivals such as VIFF. They are also some of the shorts I really liked; “Walter Was Here,” “The Southern Belle,” and “Love on a Saturday.”

“Walter Was Here” was a part of the Nevada Filmmakers Showcase along with “Lady and the Chap,” a modern Chaplin-style silent film that came out of last year’s 48 Hour Film Fest.

Nevada Filmmakers

One of my favorite programs was Sci-Fi: Past and Future Friends. “Chorebot” may be my favorite short of the festival. It won for Best Sci-Fi film. “Chorebot” was about a robot and a dog that were neither getting any attention from their master, a man that couldn’t take his eyes off his tablet from minute he wakes up until the minute he leaves and repeating himself when he returns home. The relationship between the robot and the dog is more human than any relationship their master had. Other Sci-Fi standouts were “Shrodinger’s Box” about an cat experiment and a very funny “How to Kill Your Clone.”

“UMOJA: No Men Allowed” is about a group of women in Kenya that leave their tribe to form their own tribe because they’re sick of the way their men treat them like pets. The film won the Best Documentary award and deserved it. I liked it a lot.

Another short I very much enjoyed was “A Finger, Two Dots, Then Me,” a spoken word piece that won Best Drama which sounds odd. It’s more of an experimental film. “Bottle” was my favorite animated film and it won for Best Animation.

Comedy Shorts

The Audience Favorite was “My Good Fortune” about a wanna-bee wiseguy played by director and actor David Silverman (right side of photo to the left). He gets upset because the Chinese restaurant he eats at has no fortune cookies. He goes on this far-away adventure to locate the fortune cookie writer who’s got writer’s block.

“The Proposition” which won for Best Comedy involved a satirical ‘serial’ mom (Tiffany Elle) who wanted to kill her 9 year-old daughter. She hires a hitman played by Todd Stashwick (“The Riches”). Before the hitman can make his ‘move’, the daughter played by Megli Micek gives him a proposition of her own.

Dir. Ed Stein and Megli Micek of "The Proposition"

And finally there’s “Incest! The Musical.” I’ve been waiting for a film to poke fun at “Glee” and the “High School” musical films. The filmmakers hired a real pair of actors with superb voices. Without singing ability this film would have fallen flat. Their power to sing translated to laughs as it was truly a very clever and funny film. Not to mention, it was a student film. WOW! Nicely done!

The Dilinger

I very much enjoyed the film festival. So, if you have not attended the Dam Short Film festival you should plan on doing so next year. The Dilinger, a mob-themed restaurant across the street served very good burgers. You can order the Bugsy or the Capone. So, I’m guessing these really shiny police motorcycles nearby keep a close watch on these Blue Brothers who sit awfully close to The Dilinger restaurant.

The Blues Bros.