Boulder City’s Dam Short Film Festival returns to downtown Boulder City with exceptional short films and diverse programs.
Nevada’s largest film festival is celebrating 20 years of bringing movie lovers unique and diverse films to enjoy over an extended 6-day period. The 20th Annual Dam Short Film Festival will screen 147 short films February 14-19 in the Elaine K. Smith Center in downtown Boulder City, Nevada.
With two decades of successfully entertaining audiences, the festival will showcase 29 carefully selected thematic 60- to 90-minute program blocks with categories including Animation, Comedy, Documentary, Drama, Horror, International, Sci-Fi, Nevada, Love & Romance, and Underground. This year’s festival features films from a wide variety of countries like Ireland, China, Mexico, Japan, Israel, Netherlands, France, Switzerland, and many more. As a bonus, the festival will screen the award-winning films in two special programs on Monday.
“To present the short film festival for the 20th year is an amazing accomplishment, proving that audiences continue to support and love the arts,” said Ken Cioe, Director of Operations. “We are so proud to give filmmakers a platform to share their passion and remain Southern Nevada’s favorite film festival.”
Boulder City and its small-town charm will welcome visitors for the six days of festival fun. The short films will be enjoyed with state-of-the-art digital projection in the Elaine K. Smith Center located at 700 Wyoming St, Boulder City, NV, 89005.
In addition to the screenings and filmmakers' Q&A during each category block, the Festival will feature a filmmaker Meet-n-Greet, Coffee with Filmmakers, and Dam Mixer. The Sunday night in-person Awards Presentation will also be live-streamed so everyone can tune in to find out which films win the various audience-determined awards. There will also be a raffle for the original poster artwork, by local artist and Dam Short Film Festival co-founder Lee Lanier.
Coffee with Filmmakers
Thursday, 2.15 – Monday, 2.19
8-10 am
Dam Roast House
554 Nevada Way, Boulder City
Filmmaker Meet-n-Greet
Friday, 2.16
4-5:30 pm
Boulder Bowl
504 California Ave, Boulder City
20th Annual Dam Short Mixer
Saturday, 2.17
6:15-7:15 pm
Beer Zombies
567 Nevada Way, Boulder City
Best of the Fest Awards Show
Sunday, 2.18
7-9:30 pm
Elaine K. Smith Building
700 Wyoming St, Boulder City
A full schedule can be found HERE
Throughout its 20 years, the Dam Short Film Festival has screened more than 2,500 films – giving local, state, national, and international filmmakers a platform to showcase their films and audiences access to these unique and original stories. This is thanks, in large part, to the Dam Short Film Festival sponsors, including El Rancho Boulder Motel and Nevada Tourism and Cultural Affairs.
Dam Short Film Festival, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, was founded in 2003 by Lee and Anita Lanier. The pair developed a love of short films while traveling to numerous film festivals in the U.S., Canada, and Europe. Lee worked in film production and computer animation since 1989 and directed a half-dozen short films. Today, the Dam Short Film Festival has become a traditional Southern Nevada cultural event that attracts thousands of visitors to Boulder City each February. The festival has welcomed scores of filmmakers from all over the world and has screened several thousand unique independent short films during its history.
The lineup includes over 140 short films, 29 programs, mixers, Q&As with the filmmakers, and more. This year, the festival will offer a $300 VIP Experience that includes an all-access pass, early entry to all programs, an invitation to the VIP Brunch, a T-shirt and signed poster, a discount on concessions, and one raffle ticket. The $500 VIP Experience is for two passes and can be purchased HERE. Tickets are $12.50 per film block or $150 for the full five-day pass; $45 1-day passes for Thursday, and $55 1-day passes for Friday and Saturday are also available. Tickets can be purchased HERE. For the full schedule of selected films, visit damshortfilm.org.
For more information, visit damshortfilm.org, follow on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and X (Former Twitter) @damshortfilm.