Teenagers run around New York City at all hours of the day and "kill" each other with plastic guns. Meanwhile, on the other side of the country, a father in San Francisco mourns his son's death by the bullet from a real gun.

These are examples of just two films -- both true stories -- shown during SF Shorts: The San Francisco International Festival of Short Films.

"People see 'SF Shorts' and think it will only be local films," said filmmaker Jim Kenney, who directed the festival. "But when you see its full name, you see it's very international. It gives people the chance to see films they wouldn't normally see. It mixes films, subject matters and cultures from vastly different countries and points of view."

The festival, which is in its fourth year, ran from Sept. 9 - 12 at the Red Vic Movie House. More than 1,200 submissions from 20 countries were narrowed down to 40 films and 23 music videos. Each was then placed into one of six programs based on themes such as politics, love, family, friends and urban culture.

Despite the wide representation of filmmakers from all over the world, many of them are right around the corner.

"The quality of filmmaking is exceptional in the Bay Area," Kenney said, of the local filmmakers featured in the festival. "In particular, they seem to be coming a lot from the academic programs in the Bay Area."

Among these film creators is SF State cinema student Renny McCauley. After placing an advertisement on Craigslist and screening almost 20 different drug users, McCauley directed "Drugs," which focuses on four 18 - 22-year-olds from the Bay Area and their various drug addictions.

"I looked at the representation of drugs in movies as very simplistic," said McCauley, 29, of his inspiration for the documentary. "It was either, 'No, they're bad for you' or 'They're actually really cool -- partake!' I wanted to show a situation where, in [the drug users'] own heads, it was much more complicated -- why they liked it, but also admitting to the side effects and complications."

Another film, "Close to Home," is the product of a Stanford cinema student, Theo Rigby. The documentary weaves the voices of a father completely engrossed in finding his son's killers and a daughter who not only lost her brother, but also feels she is losing her father.

Rigby, who has been in San Francisco for nine years, decided to do a documentary on the Marquez family after a City Hall rally called attention to the murders of two high school students in the span of a few weeks.

"It's a big issue that affects a lot of communities," Rigby said. "It sparked my interest because I knew it was really important."

Due to the diversity of themes and topics tackled by each film, many in attendance had a positive response to the festival.

"The films were well-chosen to go together," said Jessica Lanzkowsky, 19. "I'm bummed I can't see all of it."