Film festivals such as Cannes and Sundance have become well known for the glamorous dresses the celebrities are wearing and the endless "gifting tents" that bestow mountains of swag upon famous attendees. Case in point, Paris Hilton, star of masterpieces like House of Wax and Nine Lives, receives almost annual invitations to these events. Meanwhile, the movies and their creators seem to fade into the background.

DC Shorts Film Festival puts the true stars of the movie industry, the filmmakers, right in the forefront. For the sixth year, DC Shorts takes over two of the District's theaters to showcase the work of some of the world's most talented filmmakers, in a condensed format.

"We have a lot of film festivals [in Washington, D.C.] ... but we didn't really have anything celebrating short films, films that are under 20 minutes," says Jonathan Gann, an organizer of DC Shorts Film Festival.

Gann, a filmmaker himself, was inspired to create DC Shorts and cater it toward the producers after experiencing many festivals across the globe.

"I was disgusted by the way some festivals treated filmmakers so I wanted that changed," he says. Along these lines, the festival provides housing, meals and tours of the city for filmmakers.

Throughout the week of Sept. 10 to 17, both Landmark's E Street Cinema and U.S. Navy Memorial's Burke Theater will screen a wide array of short films, all of which clock in at less than 20 minutes. The 100 offerings, hailing from 16 countries across the globe, fall into diverse categories ranging from dramas, comedies and animated shorts to sci-fi, documentaries and more experimental films.

The first weekend is known as the competition weekend, where all films are shown twice and judged on various categories, from best screenplay to best original song. There are eight awards in total, including one completely decided by the audience, while the rest are scored by a panel of judges in the film industry. Winners are announced at a private awards ceremony, reserved solely for filmmakers and press, where prizes include a custom-made Gibson guitar, cash awards and glass trophies designed especially for the festival by the Washington Glass School.

Despite the tempting prizes, the competition is far from cutthroat.

"All of the films are entered into the competition portion of the week, but that is really more to garner excitement around the first weekend," says Gann. "A lot of the filmmakers can't stay in D.C. for the week because they have day jobs, so we want one weekend they can all come together for."

However, once the contest ends, the true nature of the festival begins. On the night of Sept. 12, filmmakers and fans are able to unwind and get to know each other at Midnight Madness, a free event at Bar Louie at 701 7th St. NW. The organizers of DC Shorts truly wanted to create an event that not only allows filmmakers to showcase their work, but also provides a forum where they can learn from one another. Many informal events bring the participants together to simply discuss their shared passion. While some are solely for the producers who are presenting work, other events allow the public to interact directly with the filmmakers and discuss what they have seen.

On that end, the short films being screened open up plenty of discussion topics. The week opens with Pigeon: Impossible, an animated film about a secret service agent who is constantly bested by a pigeon locked inside an official government briefcase worth millions of dollars. Gann cites this, as well as Taco Mary, an aptly named short in which a man sees the Virgin Mary in his taco, as some of the films he is most looking forward too, (though in true film-aficionado and diplomatic fashion, he did admit to being very excited about "most of the films.")

"[Taco Mary] was actually last year's winner of the screenplay contest, so it demonstrates how the event comes full circle," says Gann. In the screenplay contest he mentions, six screenplays are read aloud in front of an audience that decides which one to award a cash prize in order to fund the making of the movie. The runner up of last year's contest, Shiva, is also in this year's film rotation. Though it did not win the cash prize, the producers were able to generate enough capital to commit the screenplay to film. This comedy revolves around a middle-aged Jewish woman who pays visits to recent Jewish widowers in the hopes of finding love.

While the stories being told seem markedly different, common themes do tend to pop up as a byproduct of the state of the world and society.

"With the social implications of the economy and the war, we have a lot of films that aren't necessarily depressing, but not uplifting either," Gann notes, "I was hoping this would be the year of happier films but it didn't work out that way."

One such film marked by the current war is The Colors of Veil, a documentary following a former U.S. soldier who makes the transition into the world she once fought as an American-Muslim community vanguard. She finds her identity through the wearing of the traditional veil. Though the subject matter is international, Jehan Harney is from nearby Alexandria, Va., and is one of the many local talents showcasing work.

Another home-grown hero, Anne Coburn of Washington, D.C., is entered into this year's screenplay competition with Pretty All the Time, a story of a love triangle between three nerds and their blossoming sexuality.

The winning script (out of six entries) will follow in the footsteps of Taco Mary as it starts its journey to the big screen at DC Shorts 2010. Gann, still preparing for the upcoming, event- filled week, is looking ahead to watching that film. "[This event] takes about a year to plan," he says, "so we're already thinking about 2010." With such a dedicated group of filmmakers and fans, it appears that Gann has found a home for short films in the District.