DC Shorts Film Festival Reviews: Showcases 9 to 12

WASHINGTON -- The ninth edition of the DC Shorts Film Festival and Screenplay Competition continues with the premieres of showcases nine through twelve on Saturday.

The next four programs begin with screenings at E Street Cinema and U.S. Navy Memorial Heritage Center and continue at the Atlas Performing Arts Center. We've reviewed each of the shorts, rated them out of 10 and averaged our overall score.

This crop of shorts include our lowest rated animated film and our highest rated foreign film.

Showcases one to four are reviewed here. Showcases five to nine are reviewed here. Showcases nine through twelve follow ...

Showcase 9

Overall score
6.9 out of 10

Showtimes
Saturday, Sept. 8 at 2 p.m., followed by a Q&A, at E Street Cinema
Sunday, Sept. 9 at 7 p.m. at US Navy Memorial
Friday, Sept. 14 at 9 p.m. at US Navy Memorial

Click through to read reviews of the nine shorts.

Loading Slideshow

• Carts

  Films about the secret lives of inanimate objects are awesome. 7/10

• Chase

  Slowly loses the viewer. Started as a sad story of a brain injury. Ended as a loose narrative about lost love. 4/10

• The Gay Who Wasn't Gay Enough

  A good commercial for rugby. 7/10

• Necking

  Do you like the parts of "When Harry Met Sally" with the real couples? Here's just that. 7/10

• Angela Wright

  A High-strung high schooler risks her academic future. Though it shouldn't be good, it is. The director did a great job putting you in the protagonists shoes. 7/10

• Flowers For Amber Gordon

  Young love is the best! The kind of uplifting piece of art that makes everything seem sunny and hopeful. Then we go back to reality and things aren't so sunny and bright. Young love is the worst. 8/10

• Wednesday's Child

  A guinea pig of a child decides to blatantly tell her parents the experiment is over. 8/10

• Charlie

  Kids can be cruel, even the kids with a decent conscience. 7/10

• Child Of The Desert

  A tough look at a grieving homeless woman in the southwest. Well shot and executed. 7/10

Showcase 10

Overall score
4.8 out of 10

Showtimes
Saturday, Sept. 8 at 4:30 p.m., followed by a Q&A, at E Street Cinema
Monday, Sept. 10 at 5 p.m. at E Street Cinema

Click through to read reviews of the seven shorts.

Loading Slideshow

• Cockatoo

  It's hard to get over someone. It's slightly easier with the help of a surrogate. 8/10

• Hatch

  A well shot and scored dramatic piece that begins with great potential but ultimately crawls to an unsatisfying ending. 6/10

• Negative

  A grandmother that enjoys shooting on film gets her groove back. 4/10

• MLK Is A Living Legend

  The heart is in the right place but the story is way too much to cover in only nine minutes. 3/10

• The Funeral

  A short about a dead pet and a dead marriage that's dead on arrival. 2/10

• Cookies

  A silent scene on a park bench. 4/10

• Crossing

  Tense look at a not too distant past. Ambitious period piece. Could easily be turned into a feature. 7/10

Showcase 11

Overall score
5 out of 10

Showtimes
Saturday, Sept. 8 at 7 p.m., followed by a Q&A, at E Street Cinema
Monday, Sept. 10 at 7 p.m. at E Street Cinema
Saturday, Sept. 15 at 4 p.m. at Atlas Performing Arts Cinema

Click through to read reviews of the eight shorts.

Loading Slideshow

• Special Delivery

  Short, funny piece about why postmen shouldn't smoke. 6/10

• Grenouille D'Hiver

  Gérard Depardieu is such a fine actor, it's a pleasure to watch him even when the story isn't fully fleshed out. 5/10

• Mirror Image

  Having a conversation with yourself may be entertaining to you, but probably no one else. 3/10

• Lady Razorbacks

  A short reminder that sports can inspire all humans. 6/10

• Le Nid

  If you were an actor, losing your hair might make you crazy. 6/10

• Chores

  An ambitious but lackluster nearly silent film. A horror/love story. Beautiful camerawork and excellent use of music. 5/10

• Detras Del Espejo

  Awesome thriller. "Four Rooms" as a drama. 8/10

• Murgi Keno Mutant

  This animated feature about mutant chickens makes no sense. Maybe something, everything, was lost in translation. 1/10

Strong 12

Overall score
4.6 out of 10

Showtimes
Saturday, Sept. 8 at 9:30 p.m., followed by a Q&A, at E Street Cinema
Monday, Sept. 10 at 9 p.m. at E Street Cinema
Saturday, Sept. 15 at 6 p.m. at Atlas Performing Arts Cinema

Click through to read reviews of the eight shorts.

Loading Slideshow

• Try A Little Harder

  Realistic dialogue about a relationship in trouble. Maxi-pads play a large role. 6/10

• Viral

  Student film about YouTube culture. The key word in that last sentence is student. 2/10

• Ferngesteurt

  Tense look at the consequences of a hate crime. 6/10

• Outside My Window

  Why is there a music video in this thing? The song is a 1, images a 3. 2/10

• The Christmas Tree

  Heavy handed tale of a good dad who just wants to get his good daughter a Christmas tree. 3/10

• Advancing Age

  Quick comedy about a menacing balloon. 7/10

• Furet, Innbitt

  Some old habits never die, they just move into retirement homes. 8/10

• What's Life Got To Do With It

  Or "How To Train Your Zombie." 3/10