A Kafkaesque trial. A newly single twentysomething trying to navigate the world of online dating. Three soldiers, weighing humanity against duty in wartime.

Viewers can watch these three short films, and five others, during the Lake Placid Film Festival’s upcoming “Featured Filmmakers Series.”

Every Wednesday from Sept. 2 through Oct. 21, the Festival will stream a short film online, followed by a live, moderated discussion with the film’s director. Each program is free, though pre-registration is required.

“We can’t bring film lovers to the Lake Placid Film Festival this fall—but we can bring Lake Placid to film lovers,” said Gary Smith, the Lake Placid Film Festival’s chairman. “All of us in the film community recognize we need art more than ever. This series allows us to highlight some of our favorite work from last year’s Festival, while connecting these talented directors to our devoted audience.”

Each week, filmmakers will be interviewed by moderators who have previously presented at the Festival. Moderators include university-level film professors, producers, directors and an on-air host of Turner Classic Movies. They’ll discuss how the filmmakers have worked and found opportunities during the pandemic; other projects of the filmmakers, either in production or under consideration; and memorable moments from the making of the selected films.

The short films in the series last between 6 and 15 minutes. After registering, viewers will receive a link to watch the film on Vimeo; once complete, they will log onto Zoom, a video-chat platform, to view the live discussion with the director and moderator.

“While we can’t meet in person, we think this is a great opportunity to attract an even wider audience to our top-notch programming,” Smith said. “And it’s free—so we hope viewers will set aside some time every week, all fall.”

The series will take place Wednesdays, 7-8 p.m., from September 2-October 21.

September 2: “Kill,” directed by Quentin Guobadia
September 9: “Master Servant,” directed by Julie Koehnen
September 16: “Drinking for Two,” directed by Nathan Richman
September 23: “The Lost Weekend,” directed by Ryan O’Leary
September 30: “From the Thunder,” directed by Daniel Everitt-Lock
October 7: “Thespian,” directed by David Magini and Joseph Rossi
October 14: “Rockaway Sunset,” directed by P.J. Landers
October 21: “On the Ledge,” directed by Marco Baratta

Film descriptions and registration for each can be found at:

https://www.lakeplacidfilmfestival.org/your-shorts-are-showing-featured-filmmakers-series#!event-list