BC draws moviegoers to Dam Short Film Festival

By Cassie Tomlin

Published Sunday, Feb. 15, 2009 | 2:47 p.m.

Updated Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2009 | 1:05 p.m.

Lovers in an insane asylum, house-hijacking rabbits and a medieval barfight shared the stage Friday night in Boulder City. A dysfunctional dreamer, a Elvis-centered love triangle and an adulterous novelist were there, too.

The Nevada Filmmakers showcase — with those diverse themes — drew a crowd of nearly 400 movie-goers during one night of the Fifth Annual Dam Short Film Festival.

The seven films were part of 125 screened in four days in the historic Boulder Theatre, the town’s original movie-house built in 1932.

The seven Nevada films had just the state in common, with budgets from $158 to $6,100, directors reported.

Timothy Anderson made “One Two Punch,” a 10-minute film about a man held hostage by delinquents in bunny suits, last year in Henderson.

Rabbits invade the home and drug the guy who lives there — “Jack,” played by Las Vegas’ C. Clayton Blackwell — while they host a lewd party in lingerie. It’s all difficult for Jack to explain to his girlfriend the next morning.

“It didn’t happen to me or anything,” said Anderson, who studied at UNLV and New York University but now lives in Colorado. “Two girls doing that to somebody entertained me.”

Anderson doesn’t try too hard to make comedy, he said. Situations are funnier than people, and in his films, the audience can interpret some things for themselves.

The Dam Short Film Festival was the 10th screening of “One Two Punch,” he said. It played at CineVegas last summer and at festivals in Boston, Alaska and France. He said he appreciated the chance to show the film in the same area where it was made, at a smaller festival in a unique venue.

“I’ve always liked Boulder City,” he said. “It reminds me of where ‘Back to the Future’ is set. It’s got a weird charm.”

Anderson said he was pleased and surprised to see how many filmmakers traveled to attend their screenings.

The other films in the Nevada showcase were “Waxing Romantic,” by Michael Edmonds; “Growing Up Vegas,” by Amber Beard; “Barn Dance,” by John LaBonney; “Dark Romance” by Scott Buzz; “In Dreams,” by Jeremy Helal and “A Hot Meal,” by Jamison Derfler.

Lee Lanier, founder and executive director, said this year’s festival drew more than 400 entries, from as far away as Japan, Australia and Russia.

“It’s getting bigger, better and smoother,” Lanier, a short film animator and director, said.

The festival is run mostly by a staff of local volunteers who handle preparations and attend to the screenings, and Anderson said everyone was “fantastic” in accommodating the filmmakers.

Nicky Collins, a founding board member of the festival, said the Boulder Dam Hotel houses every film from the festival’s history and hopes to find a way to showcase that collection.

Since the festival fell on Friday the 13th and Valentine’s Day, movie-goers saw blocks of short films dedicated to two prominent movie themes— horror and romance.

For more information about festivals past or future, visit damshortfilm.org.

Cassie Tomlin can be reached at 948-2073 or [email protected].