Boulder City’s Dam Short Film Festival celebrates 20 years

Every February for the past 20 years, Boulder City has hosted international filmmakers and thousands of attendees at the Dam Short Film Festival. And while some things have changed over the years, festival co-founder Lee Lanier is most proud of how it has stayed the same.

“What I consider special is the fact that it’s inherently the same festival it was 20 years ago,” Lanier says. “The festival has been in 3 different locations, has been virtual, has screened over 2,500 films from almost every country in the world, has had countless volunteers, staff and board members work to make it a reality. Yet, the core mission has stayed the same. The Dam Short Film Festival has no agenda other than screening the best short films we can find that we feel our audiences will enjoy.”

This year, that agenda will be realized with more than 140 short films screened at the Elaine K. Smith Center February 14-19. Genres include animation, comedy, documentary, drama, horror, international, sci-fi, Nevada, romance and underground. Awardees will be selected based on audience votes.

It’s not just audiences that enjoy the programming. Over time, the Dam Short Film Festival has become a filmmaker favorite, as well. FilmFreeway, a site used by filmmakers to submit works to festivals, includes Dam Short in its top 100 ranking.

“As a short filmmaker, I’ve experienced the frustration of traveling to a film festival, at great cost, just to find that the festival presented a subpar screening experience. There are many things that can ruin a screening, such as bad projection, poor audience turnout, dull Q&As or general miscommunication,” Lanier says.

Filmmakers agree. In 2023, first-time festivalgoers Britt Harris and Molly Muse won the award for Best Drama with Wrap Me In a Sheet. They say their attendance and recognition at last year’s festival has led to other collaborations, and propelled the creative duo’s filmmaking career forward.

“On paper, objectively, Dam Short Film Festival gave us the most for future projects and collaborations. There’s some kind of alchemy with it and the times of filmmakers it attracted,” Harris tells the Weekly. “Having that be the first stop for our film was like just, you know, rocket jetpack to strap on and keep going.”

Harris and Muse will return to Dam Short this year to screen a new film, Ghost Town, and to help celebrate the festival’s continuing influence.

“Dam Short felt like filmmaker camp. We met a ton of people we’ll be friends with for the rest of our lives. And we’re actively collaborating with them now,” says Muse.

Sunday night’s award presentations will be livestreamed, and winning films will be rescreened in two special programs on Monday. Outside of the screenings, events are planned all around Boulder City, including a filmmaker meet-and-greet, coffee with filmmakers and a mixer at Beer Zombies.

DAM SHORT FILM FESTIVAL Thru February 19, $13-$150, Elaine K. Smith Building in Boulder City, damshortfilm.org.

For photos and more details visit LasVegasWeekly.com