My friends and I made a film once. It was a short film, and by short I mean under five minutes in length. We shot for ten hours and we ran out of money, even though nobody got paid and the set was mostly duct tape. And we never finished it. And it sucked.

The moral of the story is that truly independent moviemaking is a bitch, and the masochists who excel at it should receive some limelight. Enter Zero Film Festival 2009, a bicoastal showcase of self-financed films. Things get started on December 2nd with rooftop screenings of more than 25 shorts at the Downtown Standard in Los Angeles. Get there early, because Warpaint performs live at 9 p.m., and I’ll be in front of the stage and I’m taller than you.

Events continue in Los Angeles through December 6 at the Downtown Independent, Space 15Twenty in Hollywood, and the Echo Park Film Center. The festival moves to New York from December 9 through 13 at the Invisible Dog, Galapagos Art Space, Anthology Film Archives, and ISSUE Project Room (R.I.P. Suzanne Fiol).

DISCLAIMER: Both opening night parties (at the Downtown Standard in LA and the Invisible Dog in Brooklyn) start with a happy hour of complimentary PBR, so don’t be bent out of shape if your picture shows up on Look at This Fucking Hipster.

Zero Film Festival 2009 | New York + Los Angeles | December 2–13