Lovers of local and foreign film in Laos and beyond are preparing their palates for their bi-annual feast in the South-East Asian nation with the return of the Mini Vientianale Short Film Festival this month in the nation's capital.

Award-winning regional treats from the Philippines and Cambodia will be seen alongside a selection of shorts handpicked by guest Heinz Hermanns, director of Germany's largest short film festival Interfilm Berlin during the Mini Vientianale from March 11 to 13.

The spotlight is also shared with the also-landlocked Luxembourg on the festival's Saturday afternoon for a program that includes that country's 2014 Oscar winning animated short popular with all ages, Monsieur Hublot.

In addition to animation the celluloid offerings span multiple genres including drama, comedy, documentary, storytelling, experimental, with all reels kept within half an hour.

The festival's final evening will also see some 40 local filmmakers set to project their best efforts as the annual Vientianale Short Film Competition gets underway in the grounds of the city's landmark National Cultural Hall.

A free public annual celebration of the shorts, the Vientianale is one of two major festival events on the calendar for the country's growing ranks of cinephiles, the second being the increasingly-storied Luang Prabang Film Festival that focuses on the longer-form and held annually in December.

Speaking to Xinhua, Vientianale International Film Festival Director Margarete Magiera said Vientianale audiences would be treated to free public screenings of some 90 short films from more than 30 countries across Asia, Africa, Europe, the Middle East, and North and South America.

"We can't wait for our audiences to see what stories Lao and international filmmakers can tell within these tiny time frames," Magiera said.

"Always a stand-out of any Vientianale program is the annual Short Film Competition and this year we've received 40 entries from emerging filmmakers across Laos, a record number."

"Another twist to this year's event is there is no competition theme, meaning the filmmakers have let their imaginations run wild. So there really is something for every audience."

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