Short life

New Yorker Films has stepped up to the plate to compile a DVD of international shorts.

The World According to Shorts includes Chile's "La Perra," Australia's "We Have Decided Not to Die," Norway's "United We Stand," Poland's "Antichrist," Brazil's "The Old Woman's Step" and Germany's "Ring of Fire."

I think they're on to something.

The sexy side of film

Isabella Rossellini - daughter of Ingrid Bergman, star of creepy David Lynch films, seductive insect in the Sundance Channel shorts, "Green Porno." Why doesn't that seem so off base?

And speaking of, well, sex -- this time for humans -- have you seen the latest cover of Film Arts magazine? It features a little doc that played at last January's PSIFF, Passion & Power: The Technology of Orgasm. Hopefully the article's not censored, because when filmmakers Emiko Omori & Wendy Blair Slick attended the PSIFF screening they had been interviewed by a local TV station and were not allowed to say the word "vibrator"...the topic of the film. Good to know.

Another 48 hours

Think short filmmakers have it easy and want to see them work under pressure?

The 48 Hour Film Project makes filmmakers sweat under the clock. On Friday they're given a character, a prop, a line of dialogue and a genre. On Sunday, they better have a film.

Check out the tour or watch the results online.

Noises off

Tonight is our special member screening of Noise.

If you attended, what did you think of Henry Bean's (The Believer) dark comedy starring Tim Robbins as a fed up New Yorker?

DIY Hi-Desert short fest

PAH-Fest (that's Project Accessible Hollywood) is coming to the desert with a cell phone in each holster.

Christopher Coppola (Francis' nephew, Nic Cage's brother) is arming desert residents with video-capable phones and a little guidance and then letting them go to town...literally. Given a topic and a limited time to film, his goal is to sweep the nation, leaving newly enabled storytellers in his wake.

The mini-PAH of the California Hi-Desert will take place May 2-4 in Twentynine Palms, Joshua Tree and Yucca Valley. Check it out.

Jonesin' for some shorts?

This month, tap into KCET's Festival of Student Film.

Every Saturday night in April, they'll be playing a batch of good films from students in sunny California. If your TV sits in SoCal, you're set. If not, wait until after the episode airs, and it becomes available online.

Just another reminder that good things come in small packages.

Hey, have we met?

There's no better time than smack-dab between the Palm Springs International Film Fest and the Palm Springs ShortFest to get to know one another.

Keep comin' back for film news, fest updates and to chat up our latest screening or film series.

We'll be here, and we want to hear from you!