From the "On The Scene" Archives:

by Patricia Thomson

(indieWIRE/ 04.17.02) -- Imagine being a canapé that suddenly finds itself presented as the main course. All the anticipation, attention, and compliments now swirl around little ol' you, as a flurry of white gloves and silver platters dignify your presence.

This heady transformation is what it's like for countless directors who attend the Aspen Shortsfest, one of the most esteemed and beloved showcases in the U.S. for the art of short film. Spun off from the Aspen Filmfest in 1992, this five-day event, held April 9-13, rolls out the red carpet for shorts from around the world. With its mix of screenings, indoor talk sessions, and outdoor glory in a Rocky Mountain setting, the festival has won quite a few fans."This is my favorite festival," gushes Megan O'Neill of Forefront Films, who has attended regularly for five years. "The films are really strong here, and it's very easy to meet the filmmakers." Initially looking for shorts to distribute, Forefront sold their catalog to Atom Films in 1999, so O'Neill now comes to scout for talent. "In fact, we're currently in the process of developing a feature with an Irish director I met here a couple of years ago," O'Neill attests.

But as an industry guest, O'Neill is in the minority, joined this year only by reps from Atom, Hypnotic, public television station KQED/San Francisco, and festival co-sponsor Kodak. Aspen Shortsfest is decidedly not an industry event -- a conscious decision by the organizers. "This is a festival for filmmakers and film lovers," says Laura Thielen, the affable executive director of Aspen Filmfest and Shortsfest. "We like the networking that happens, but it's not the focus of the festival. The focus is a celebration of the art and craft of film, and to give so many of these people who have day jobs recognition as artists. We have a lot of filmmakers who aren't here this year because they couldn't get off work."

Among the 30 filmmakers who managed to attend was Belgian director Dirk Belien. For this portfolio manager, time is his most precious commodity. "I have no time for features," says the 39-year-old father of four. So Belien vents his creative energy by writing and directing shorts -- three so far and two more in the hopper. "I have a feature in mind, but it can wait." With each short, Belien attempts to learn one more facet of filmmaking ã shooting nighttime scenes, directing children, working with a dog. This kind of patience and humility pays off. Belien's "Gridlock" won best short short for live action films, and it's everything a short should be: concise as the joke that inspired it, sensibly contained to two locations and two main characters, and as polished as a small gem, with crisp 35mm lensing and a favorite Belgium actor carrying the director's vision a long way.

Aspen is brimming with shorts of this quality because of several decisions. First, the festival limits itself to 70 films. "We're not trying to be comprehensive," says Thielen. Second, organizers can cherry-pick the whole world, having pursued an international angle since Thielen came on-board in 1995. Third, they don't privilege first-time directors. In fact, more than two-thirds of screenings are from people with at least one film under their belt. Some are outright veterans, like Norwegian director Anja Breien, who has 10 features to her name and simply had a hankering to craft a short film between jobs, or New York restaurateur and director Bob Giraldi ("Dinner Rush"), who together with cinematographer Allen Daviau ("E.T.") created the first dramatic film about September 11, "The Routine," a five-minute piece shot in Giraldi's devasted neighborhood.

The final factor is the screening process. Led by competition coordinator George Eldred, a team of local townsfolk acts as the selection committee, effectively test-screening the submissions. This no doubt cuts down on the number of experimental works that assume a certain fluency in film theory and history. But it results in decently packed houses for every screening and still leaves a good number of works that push the envelope. Take "Palindrome," by Brazilian Philippe Barcinski. This most innovative live action film does "Memento" one better, having the images themselves (not just the story) run backwards. "Home Road Movies," by Britain's Robert Bradbrook, picked up the most innovative animation prize for its mix of live actors, family-photo cutouts, and road-trip backgrounds which the filmmaker rendered using a 3D program on his Powerbook G3. "2+2," Benita Raphan and Clayton Hemmert's perfect counterprogramming to "A Beautiful Mind," astutely burrows into John Nash's actual ideas while offering a dense visual montage that parallels Nash's complexity and loss of mental cohesion.

The film that netted the most prizes was "The Collector of Bedford Street" by Alice Elliott, receiving an audience award, a jury prize for best documentary, and the horizons award. This uplifting half-hour documentary started out as a simple profile of Larry Selman, a retarded neighbor of the Manhattan-based filmmaker. Selman was a neighborhood fixture, amiably bugging neighbors to contribute to various charities. But during the five years of filming, the director and neighbors become concerned about Selman's welfare, seeing that his primary caretaker was an octogenarian. The story then takes an unexpected turn as everyone bands together to create a trust fund for Selman. The film rounds yet another unexpected corner when Selman finds love at a United Jewish Association dance.

But it was the narratives grappling with serious issues that constitute the latest trend, says Thielen. "A few years ago, there were stories with a surprise twist. Then there were comedies. This year, there are longer dramas that deal with geopolitical realities." She ticks off some: "Inja" addresses apartheid; "Remote Control" the conflict in Bosnia; "Whoa" street violence in urban America; and "Golden Gate (Palace II)" drugs in Brazil's favelas. What's more, there's the first wave of September 11 films, including Jason Kliot's elegy "Site" and Robert Edward's wake-up call "The Voice of the Prophet." Thanks to short film's quick response capability, says Thielen, "If there's something on people's minds, it will show up here."

For anyone scouting trends, that's a good reason to mark Aspen Shortsfest on the calendar. For short filmmakers, there's no better excuse than the giddy pleasure of being surrounded by good company and being feted in style -- as a featured entrée, not just a pre-meal nibble.