Short films are magical. They are complete worlds unto themselves, but they are also windows into larger universes. On Saturday, Aug. 27 at 7 p.m. and 9 p.m., the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), a Knight Arts grantee, opens its doors to these short wonders when it presents its annual Optic Nerve Film Festival, featuring new short films and videos by artists from South Florida and across the nation.

This year the Optic Nerve Festival will screen 18 recent films by 15 artists and two artist collectives that are all under five minutes. The films selected for the festival are diverse. There is a quirky animated film, a film by an artist who asked 20 people to bark like an angry dog, a film that uses amateur remakes of the original shower scene from Alfred Hitchcock’s 1960 thriller “Psycho” found on YouTube and many, many other interesting shorts.

The great thing about this festival is you don’t have to worry about selecting which film you want to see, because you can see them all in the time it takes to watch a full-length feature film. However, there are a few films that are worth noting.

“Twenty Angry Dogs, Group Bark,“ by New York-based filmmaker Richard Jochum, is about a diverse crowd of 20 grownups dressed mostly in black barking like angry dogs. One of the actors reminds me of my Pomeranian. The performance is nothing short of hysterical.

“Job Creation in a Bad Economy,” by Miami-based filmmakers Ruben Millares and Antonia Wright, is an absurdist film about repetition and the pitfalls of bureaucracy. The film starts off with a bang and doesn’t stop as the two main characters run at full-speed and slam into bookcase after bookcase throughout the film. It seems there’s always another book in the wall in this ridiculously funny film.

For a complete listing of shorts featured during the Optic Nerve Film Festival, visit www.mocanomi.org/optic-nerve.

Optic Nerve XIII will be presented at the Museum of Contemporary Art, 770 N.E. 125th St., North Miami, Fla 33161 and is free with museum admission ($5 adults; $3 seniors and students with ID; free for MOCA members, North Miami residents). Seating is very limited, and RSVP is required. For reservations, please call 305-893-6211, or e-mail [email protected]. **The de la Cruz Collection will also screen Optic Nerve XIII Finalists from September 10 through October 8, 2011 at 23 N.E. 41st St., Miami. For de la Cruz Collection hours and information, call 305-576-6112, or visit www.delacruzcollection.org.