ASU Art Museum’s courtyard was packed with lawn chairs, picnic blankets and a sea of people watching social commentaries and silly cartoons on a big screen on Saturday night.

About 1,300 people were reeled in to watch film reels at the 13th annual ASU Art Museum Short Film and Video Festival, held outside the museum.

The free festival showed 19 selections made by a globe-spanning collection of independent directors, hailing everywhere from Germany to New York to Arizona. The films represented an array of genres from confessional documentary to campy video animation.

“It’s a roller coaster,” said John Spiak, ASU Art Museum curator and co-juror of the festival. “I think what we’re trying to do is have an event where people can enjoy a whole program, and if you don’t like one [of the films] be able to wait 5 minutes and watch another one.”

To chose 19 submissions among this year’s 405 entries from 35 states and 27 nations, Spiak said he and co-juror Bob Pece of California considered the efforts of novice and acclaimed work alike. This, combined with the broad range of genres selected, hopefully created “a well-rounded festival” that represented all film styles, from both local and international directors, he said.

This year’s eclectic selection hopefully encouraged the audience to adopt a more open mindset toward independent film and video art, Spiak said. The festival’s combination of screening unique films and free admission is an attempt to draw in people who wouldn’t normally be introduced to alternative art forms, he said.

“It’s just having the audience, in a sense, forced to face that [style of film],” Spiak said. “Because it’s free, they’re more likely to come to this film festival and take that risk … [and open] up to new ways of thinking about the moving image.”

Sean Christensen, whose short film “Fan Mail” won this year’s AZ Award for best Arizona-directed submission, said one of the festival’s strengths is its willingness to display the work of local newcomers along with established international directors. having six of the films were directed by Arizona residents, and two by current ASU students is a great sign of progress for the local arts scene, he said.

“That just points to this growing fascination with film in Arizona and is just a beginning of what’s to come,” he said.

Christensen, a 24-year-old Phoenix native whose film “Empty House” was also accepted this year, said the festival’s outdoor, community setting also contributes to a unique way to see film.

“At the mainstream theaters, you hear [the audience say], ‘I hope I get my money’s worth,’ but at a film festival like this, it’s like, ‘I don’t know what I’m going to see, but I know its going to be fun,’” Christensen said. “It’s a different kind of mentality about seeing a film.”

Phoenix resident and 2006 ASU alumnus Joshua Jenkins attended Saturday’s festival and said the event was a rare chance in Arizona for local directors to get exposure to the community. The festival’s structure helped it appeal to the whole community, not just those connected to ASU, he said.

“I think [that because of] the short format of the films and because [the festival] sprinkled different types in, there was something for fans of every genre,” Jenkins said. “It’s flexible for all kinds of fans.”

Andrew Miranda, a 28-year-old Scottsdale resident who also attended the film festival, said its comfortable and inviting atmosphere probably attracted new people to independent film who usually feel art “can be inaccessible or pretentious.”

“Any time you have a free event just to expose people to art in a contemporary setting, it has merit and value,” he said.

Reach the reporter at trabens@asu.edu.