If you're feeling less than inspired by the latest cinema offerings, if you'd rather die than watch Patrick Dempsey do that I-think-I'm-about-to-sneeze face for the big screen, if your wife has forbid you to see Speed Racer for the fourth time in a row, the New Hampshire Film and Television Office has an alternative for you.

It's the first-of-its-kind, statewide High School Short Film Festival, this Saturday at noon at the New Hampshire Technical Institute's Sweeney Hall Auditorium. Admission is free, the talent is fresh and there isn't a single rom-com in the line-up.

"I'm amazed by some of the films we've received," said Matthew Newton, a film specialist at the New Hampshire Film and Television Office and organizer of the event. "They range all over the board. There are some that are trying filmmaking for the first time, and there are others that look like they've been doing it for years . . . they range from comedies to dramas to documentaries."

Newton, a graduate of the film studies program at Keene State College, believes the event will provide more than entertainment. "I've always had an interest in student film," he said. "When I got into this work, I really wanted to make it part of the mission to get down to the level where we're working with students and fostering films from the ground up."

A panel of judges will select a best-of-the-festival film from the 20 entries, and the audience will also get to vote on a favorite.

Those two films, along with three honorable mentions, will be made into a one-hour DVD complete with brief filmmaker interviews, and will be distributed to community access television stations around the state. The DVD will also be played at the New Hampshire Film Festival and the Somewhat North of Boston (S.N.O.B.) film festival.

Along with granting exposure, Newton hopes the festival will help educate young filmmakers. In future years, he and co-founder Christian Gompert, a teacher at Nute High School in Milton, hope to work with media arts programs in schools around the state to create a resource for aspiring auteurs. "We want them to not only approach filmmaking creatively but professionally," Newton said. "To get permissions for music and that sort of thing."

After all, filmmaking may turn out to be more than just a hobby for many. Newton is seeing enormous growth in the industry here in New England and believes there will be numerous opportunities for ambitious young filmmakers. "This area, particularly Boston, is turning into Hollywood East," Newton said. "There are also a lot of opportunities to do corporate video work, commercials . . . there's a lot of stuff happening."

The festival features 20 films, each under 10 minutes, making it about the length of a regular feature film. Here are a few of the entries:

• Off Switch by Carson Lund, Nashua High School North. A boy who feels neglected by his father tries to impress him by getting a photograph of a biker.

• Cute Things Falling Asleep by Daniel Castrillon of Nashua High School North. A humorous music video about a boy living in the forest with wild animals.

• Hometown Heroes by Maree Magliocchetti of Bow High School. A documentary about the experiences of two World War II veterans, as told through personal interviews and archival footage and images.

• With or Without by Dennis Fraser of Hopkinton High School. A comedy about a high school student who learns what life is like without his annoying "shadow" following him around.

• Actions, Not Words by Molly Milazzo of Bow High School. A drama about a teen girl who calls a friend to rant after seeing yet another Africa infomercial and finds little sympathy on the other end.