Jon Gann was fed up. He was a filmmaker, and he had seen the death of his craft: the modern film festival. “I traveled the world attending film festivals, and most of them are about parties and money,” he said and then paused, reconsidering. “Make that money and parties, actually. Either way, they’re not about films, and they’re definitely not about the filmmakers.”

Then, about five years ago, he finally attended a festival about films. Gann’s experience at the Aspen Filmfest, one of the oldest in the country, would change not only his view on what a festival could be, but his entire perspective on why he made films. He was inspired. Gann, a D.C. native already familiar with the District’s extensive filmmaking community, which ranks only behind the meccas of L.A. and New York in terms of production, chose the city as the site for his project. Moreover, he had decided he would focus on short films, which he felt didn’t get the respect they deserved at larger film festivals. With an idea in mind, he made a couple phone calls to a few like-minded friends in the industry and got to work. Shortly thereafter, the D.C. Shorts Film Festival was born.

The festival’s first year in 2003 was small. It lasted one day, with a little over 300 people attending and around 30 films. Now in its fifth year, the festival premiers this Thursday, boasting over 100 films and six screenplay readings from more than 150 filmmakers representing 13 different countries. The budget of last year’s films festival was well over $130,000, making the $7,000 bill in 2003 look like chump change.

The duration of the festival has also grown in length from a single day to eight. It will kick off Sept. 11 on two screens of downtown’s E Street Theater with its first showcase, and close with the “Best of Fest” on the Sept. 18 where the festival’s award winners and audience-favorite films will be presented during two showcases.

All week, Gann’s vision of a festival for filmmakers is brought to life not only through the celebration of these artists’ creativity, but through seminars that offer advice on the practicalities of filmmaking, including free seminars that will be offered on subjects such as low-budget film production and DIY guerrilla marketing. The festival also coaxes participation from filmmakers by covering food and lodging for all visiting and participating artists. As expressed by the D.C. Shorts Web site, the goal of the festival itself is to both offer exposure as well as to foster a sense of community where new and established filmmakers can mix and share their experiences of the industry. If the burgeoning participation numbers are any indication, this aspiration has been well-received.

As for the curious layperson, he or she will get the benefit of basking in the reflected glow of all his concentrated ingenuity. “My biggest fear is always that we won’t sell tickets,” Gann admitted. “It’s irrational at this point, given that we sell out every year. We have big films. We have filmmakers from around the world. I just hope as many people as possible come out to appreciate their work.”

The array of subjects covered in the shorts is vast, offering something for everyone: quirky, absurd films such as the Attack of the Hot Female Alien Man Eaters, an 18-minute epic about men, meat and the super-hot female aliens who love them; touching films such as Offbeat, which follows a lonely police officer and a psychiatrist who find love; and wrenchingly thought-provoking works, like Niña Quebrada, a piece about a young Mexican immigrant who crosses into the United States for a better life only to be forced into child prostitution.

The films are shown in showcases running all day. In the afternoons, the subject material runs toward a more general (read: kid-friendly) audience. After 7 p.m. the subjects become a bit edgier — this is when you’ll probably find more man-meat-loving aliens. Additionally, as an a propos the upcoming election, this will be the inaugural year for a phone-based voting system through which fans can vote for the film of their choice to be recipient of an Audience Choice award at the closing ceremonies.

Tickets for the film festival are available both online at a very reasonable $12 per showcase (there’s an additional $1 convenience charge if you buy online). Additionally, free lunch shows will be available starting Monday, Sept. 13 through Sept 17. It’s worth a look because, really, how many times can you see The Dark Knight?