Newport Beach Film Festival long on shorts

Lolita Harper

Short Mondays take on a new meaning at the Newport Beach Film

Festival, as they showcase original works from many local players

that vary in theme from twisted crime fighting to a bizarre game of

poker.

The featured shorts are collected under clever titles, such as

“Gangs of New Shorts,” “Something Foreign in My Shorts” and “Short

Stack.” Film times are as varied as the movie topics.

This year, the Newport Beach Film Festival accepted 175 short

features from more than 45 countries, festival publicist Todd

Quartararo said. That is up 55 from last year’s 120 shorts.

In addition to expanding its line up of short films, the festival

also extended its scope for the origins of those works by drawing

from an additional 15 countries.

Although international filmmakers have a large showing, locals

such as Roman Cortez, Ryan Parrot and Billy Sale are well

represented.

Cortez’s film, “Three Card Studs,” takes on every action flick

cliche and swirls it into one peculiar poker game. Comedy rounds out

the film, making for a side-splitting climax. It plays today at 4

p.m. at Edwards Island Gold.

Parrot takes his audience on a wild adventure when a routine cop

call goes “horribly wrong” and a young man finds himself trapped in

the back of a squad car in “Ride.” Strap in for a wild ride at 11

a.m. at Edwards Island Blue.

Rounding out the local lineup of cropped trousers is Sale’s

“Saoirse,” which briefly chronicles a woman’s struggle to keep her

“civil” life while fighting demons from the past.

These and many other mini-flicks, which may be short on length but

not in talent, are a highlight of the film festival, as they allow

the audience to experience a wide variety of talent, themes and

creative expression in a relatively “short” amount of time,

Quartararo said.

Short films are just a part of the line-up at the annual Newport

Beach Film Festival, which offers nine days of nonstop entertainment,

parties, a children’s festival and in-depth seminars and symposium

series that explores the world of filmmaking through the eyes of

recognized industry players, Quartararo said.

* LOLITA HARPER writes columns Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays

and covers culture and the arts. She may be reached at (949) 574-4275

or by e-mail at lolita.harper@latimes.com.