Some highlights of the Film Fest

Short-film fun comes in many forms, and it's nice to get a shot at finding them at bold, independent film venues like the Magic Theatre. Look for their 6th Nevada County Film Festival at the Magic Oct. 5-8.

You want fantasy fun from a male perspective? Try "A Cigar at the Beach." For fantasy fun from a female -- and Asian -- perspective, try "10,000 Apologies (to my Ancestors)." You like it in classic stop-motion animation, go gothic with Edgar Allan Poe's "The Pit and the Pendulum." Maybe you want dramatic tension that almost manages to keep its constant smirk in check? Try "Perils in Nude Modeling."

"Perils in Nude Modeling," by the way, offers no perils really and don't get your hopes up on the nudity either. But it's creative and it's fun.

There's serious, too, in this year's festival line-up. A dark cloud hangs over "The Utopian" as the lead character carries the consequences of a mind-impairing past to a fated present. Too calm is the storm that hangs over "The Father, Unblinking." How could the death of one's child have such a matter-of-fact tension? Coming of age can come none too smoothly as it does in "Half-Term." Serious can also mix good heartedness and progressive mindedness into a global-sized perspective because of "Binta and the Grand Idea."

Check out the entire film festival schedule at http://themagictheatre.com/schedule.html. The point is not the type of movie or whether any particular movie leans light or heavy. The point is the opportunity. So-called independent filmmaking is big-time corporate nowadays. To travel the starving artist spectrum of independent filmmaking, festivals of short films provide a special opportunity for movie goers to explore, to stretch, to dare to like half of what they see - maybe a different half than the person sitting next to you.

It's a refreshing challenge to see well crafted films whose combined budgets cost less than a single commercial for a Hollywood blockbuster.

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Chuck Jaffee lives in Nevada City. See his other articles for The Union at www.startlets.com.