Short films are today both everywhere but nowhere, even for many who consider themselves film fans.

With digital cameras and other filmmaking gear becoming ever more affordable, the number of short films in every genre is exploding. But little of this huge output plays at the local multiplex and, unless you seek it out, it might as well not exist.

Why take the trouble? While shorts are still the training wheels of the film industry, made by beginners to impress future bosses or potential investors, they also give even the most established talents a chance to experiment — something that is hard to do in the feature film world, with its genre formulas and box-office pressures. The volume of bad-to-indifferent films, however, is large and rising, thus making well-curated short film festivals ever more important.