Boulder City, NV – Film Festival

When I was last there: February 10, 2017
Why I went: 2018 Dam Short Film Festival
Where I stayed: N/A – day trip
What I saw: The Historic Boulder Theater cleared out when someone had a heart attack during the film festival (they said the person was going to be okay after the paramedics took them away)

I wasn’t expecting much from the festival and was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed the films showcased during the Animation Images in Motion segment. Below are summaries of the shorts:

Wishing Box: Pirate finds an empty treasure chest and his monkey can pull whatever he wishes out of the box. The monkey starts pulling out food since it’s hungry, then gold per his pirate’s request until their ship sinks from the weight of gold.

Ugly: Fragmented style animation of an ugly cat struggling to exist in a broken world.

Starlight: Old man lights up candles that are the stars in the sky and loses hope when the lights go out. A little boy brings back hope and the stars in the sky by making a wish upon a fallen star.

Glorious Victory: 2 Beatles fighting over a piece of fruit only to have ants come into the picture.

The Pirate Cruncher: Pirate’s get a treasure map from a fiddler and try to find a treasure that is guarded by a monster.

And the Moon Stands Still: A dark animation about a demon that tries to cause destruction including biting the moon.

Dam! The story of Kit the Beaver: A young beaver keeps getting distracted from helping her family build a dam. The score from an orchestra is what was most notable for me from this piece.

Here are a couple places I’d recommend if you are ever visiting Boulder:

Fox Smokehouse BBQ: Known for their beef ribs, brisket and cowboy beans. Unfortunately I totally forgot to take a picture before diving into this delicious meal.

Boulder City Antique Market was a fun place to remind myself how old I am when walking around spotting things from my childhood.

And of course the Hoover Dam is nearby and worth a visit! If you have any recommendations, send them my way in case I visit there again one day.