The Love Your Shorts Film Festival will return Feb. 10-12 for its second year, when the event will move into a larger venue, add an additional category of films, and show 70 short movies from filmmakers around Central Florida and the world.
The festival will be held in the historic downtown Wayne Densch Performing Arts Center. The three-day event will feature short films up to 30 minutes each in the 1923 theater.
Filmmakers from 15 countries submitted 220 movies for consideration in the festival, which will have seven different categories, plus an opening-night variety of films, and a Best of the Fest competition on closing night. Last year’s Best of the Fest winner won an Oscar two weeks later, so maybe this year’s Love Your Shorts winner will again provide a hint of what’s to come at the Academy Awards.
Movies will be shown in blocks of about 90 minutes each in animation, comedy, documentary, drama, sci-fi/horror, Florida Flavor, and the new E for Everyone category, which will offer films for young children. Ticket costs for the E for Everyone category are reduced so parents can bring kids and their friends.
In addition to the films from the United States, others to be shown are from Australia, Brazil, Canada, Czech Republic, Germany, Japan, India, South Korea, Spain, Syria, Taiwan, and the United Kingdom.
Christina Grace-Beverly, festival media director, said filmmakers from as far as California and New York have already committed to attend.
Several local filmmakers were chosen for the nonprofit event, including two returning from last year with new works: Charles Frisby of Sanford, with a tale of a private investigator that accepts a late-night case, and Carl Knickerbocker of Oviedo, with an art/puppet film.
Two films by University of Central Florida students and another by a Seminole County 3rd grader also will be shown.
A Q&A forum featuring some of the attending filmmakers will be presented during the festival. Some of the downtown restaurants, bars and shops will offer festival specials, and food trucks will be on hand the final day.
The schedule, tickets and descriptions of the movies are available on the LoveYourShorts.com website. The Wayne Densch Performing Arts Center is at 201 S. Magnolia Ave.
