Before independent short films caught on with cinephiles and hipsters, ten-minute flicks used to be relegated to crappy homegrown film festivals served up in basements and school cafeterias, or to the ten-minute preview slot before a “real” film.
Local film buff Steve Weiss paved the way for a better appreciation of short film with Selection: No Festival Required, an annual compilation show that he founded in 2004. Unlike other short film festivals, this one pays a screening fee to entrants rather than requiring the filmmakers to shell out money to enter their flick. It’s a pretty sweet deal that attracts filmmakers from all over the globe.
Weiss will present the final installment of the series at Phoenix Art Museum. His final selections include shorts by Tucson’s Yuri Makino and Bartek Kulas of Poland, plus a documentary about women in a rural Macedonian village from cinematographer Dragana Zarevska. In keeping with tradition, Weiss filmed the festival’s opening sequence, which will be scored by international composer Arjan Dekkers.
Sun., June 26, 1 p.m., 2011
