FILM/SNEAK PEEK : SEE SHORT FILMS IN WRIGHT PLACE.(L.A. LIFE)

The first annual L.A. International Short Film Festival, featuring short films from around the world, will run Oct. 3-5 at the Barnsdall Art Park, 4800 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood.

Activities will include screenings of short films (drama, comedy, documentary, animation and experimental) at the Barnsdall Gallery Theater, an opening night reception catered by Angeli Caffe, live bands, a tour of Frank Lloyd Wright's Hollyhock House, outdoor silent film screenings, panels on pitching and producing, a networking session for actors and directors, and an awards presentation.

The event is presented by Filmmakers United, a nonprofit organization. To order tickets by phone or mail, call Showtixx toll-free at (888) 566-8499. For information, call (213) 427-8016, or visit the Web site at 222.lashortsfest.com.

Waco revisited: ``Waco: The Rules of Engagement,'' a controversial documentary by William Gazecki that details step-by-step the alleged mishandling by the government of the 1993 stand-off against the Branch Davidians in Waco, Texas, begins a one-week engagement tonight, running through Sept. 18 at the downtown Laemmle's Grande 4-Plex, at 345 S. Figueroa St., between Third and Fourth streets. Information: (213) 617-0268.

Anti-momism: Get laugh therapy for your nastiest feelings about Mom this weekend at the ``Mean Mommies'' film festival to be presented at Laemmle's Music Hall theater, 9036 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills. At 10 a.m. Saturday and Sunday, the three-plex will host simultaneous screenings of the anti-Mom classics ``Mommie Dearest,'' ``Throw Momma From the Train'' and ``Harold & Maude.''

The event is meant to whet appetites for the premiere at the Music Hall of Philip Goodhew's ``Intimate Relations,'' a black comedy featuring Julie Walters as a seemingly perfect 1950s British housewife who seduces a vulnerable young lodger (Rupert Graves), setting off further mayhem.

For information, call the Music Hall at (310) 274-6869.

: A new source of tips and market information for screenwriters is now available online: Type in http://www.gotmilkstuff.com/shop/specscript.html on the Internet and you'll arrive at a Web site designed by Howard Meibach, publisher of the Spec Screenplay Sales Directory. ``I constantly talk to agents and producers and ask them who's buying what. There will be tips on the Web site, as well as interviews with first-time writers who have sold screenplays,'' said Meibach. Also featured will be links to other screenwriting sites.

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2 Photos

Photo: (1) A famous image from the Branch Davidian standoff, part of ``Waco: The Rules of Engagement,'' showing at Laemmle's Grande 4-Plex.

(2) Forensic work at Waco showed the Branch Davidians' interest in constitutional law.