DC Shorts: Showcase 1 – My Review

Jenn Harris, Matthew Wilkas in Gayby
Jenn Harris, Matthew Wilkas in Gayby

I attended Showcase 1 of the DC Shorts Film Festival last night. For the festival, the films are divided into nine different showcases, including a ribald late-night collection of shorts as well as a family-appropriate slate. Each showcase contains around ten short films.

Here’s my take on the films in Showcase 1:

Sunday Punch – It’s a film noir that’s a little predictable but sexy and gorgeously shot.

Shovel Ready – A darkly comic 48 Hour Film about getting rid of the troublesome people in your life.

Prayers for Peace – Heartbreaking, beautiful and personal. Probably the film I’ll remember most.

Somewhere Never Traveled – One of those mysterious films that you’re entranced by, but don’t know what’s going on – like something by Sofia Coppola.

Hipster Job – A retelling of the story of Job, but with hipsters. Deliberately crude and stupid.

Quartering Act – A WWII drama that’s a little too long. Tries to get the historical details right but feels awfully American for a story set in France.

Just About Famous – A wry, funny and sympathetic look at the bizarre world of celebrity impersonators.

El Cortejo (The Cortege) – A Spanish film about finding love in the most unlikely of places.

Banana Bread – Hyper-violent and you can see the punchline coming from a mile away.

Gayby – My favorite. It’s like a modern Woody Allen movie, with a neurotic woman who wants to make a baby the old-fashioned way with her gay best friend.

They’re all interesting and entertaining films. See Showcase 1:

Saturday, September 11 @ 9:00pm @ U.S. Navy Memorial Heritage Center
(followed by a Q&A with the filmmakers)
Sunday, September 12 @ 1:00pm @ Landmark’s E Street Cinema
Tuesday, September 14 @ 9:00pm @ Landmark’s E Street Cinema

Author: Joe Flood

Joe Flood is a writer, photographer and web person from Washington, DC. The author of several novels, Joe won the City Paper Fiction Competition in 2020. In his free time, he enjoys wandering about the city taking photos.

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