The 13th annual LA Shorts Fest is already in full swing and will showcase almost 300 international short films and music videos by the end of the week. It's a chance to see some famous faces in some unusual contexts, like Kanye West in a darkly comedic dream sequence by Spike Jonze (We Were Once a Fairytale) or Scarlett Johansson's directorial debut starring Kevin Bacon (The Vagabond Shoes).

But the festival also exposes us to movies we might not otherwise see, opening our eyes to compelling people, issues, and events we never would have learned about. One of those gems is director Jon Kalafer's new documentary We Love You, about a 38-year long American tradition you probably haven't heard of: the Rainbow Gathering.

Every July since 1972, as many as 30,000 people have met at remote locations in different National Forests around the country. They come together for a week of celebration and nondenominational prayer for peace. They construct stoves made out of mud, they have epic drum circles, and they ohm. People bring as much food and supplies as they can afford and share with everyone. There is no cell phone reception, no internet, no electricity, but there is an abundance of joy. There are no tickets or admission fees and noone is in charge, but everyone is invited. One Rainbow who speaks in the film says "whoever arrives, at home (at the gathering) and helps with the gathering, and calls themselves a Rainbow, is in the Rainbow Family Tribe."

"The only way to understand it is to experience it," Kalafer told LA2DAY, which is what he hopes his film will make viewers want to do. He first heard about the Rainbow Gatherings from a friend in college and went to his first one in 1999, when it was held a couple hours from his New Jersey hometown. He was amazed by what he saw, the people he met, the level of connectedness he felt.

"There's a common experience [at a gathering], it's called blissing out, get high naturally, you really feel good ... at first I thought someone had slipped me something and I didn't know. But there's a lot of reasons for it, you're in nature, you're totally away, you're just in the woods, the comforts aren't there, the buildings aren't there, the media we consume isn't there. I think being out of our environment and being in a natural environment is a big part of what's appealing."

He went back in 2007 to see if it was like he remembered, and the vibe hadn't changed a bit. So he got the idea to make a film about it in 2008, when it was held in Wyoming. He and his crew showed up with a trailer and a generator, but they had to leave it parked far from the actual gathering site. Deep within the trees, the Rainbows were building their temporary city, complete with outdoor kitchens and water treatment systems. They use hoses and employ gravity-based transport to bring water from sources high in the mountains, and attach them to spigots.

They also erected a large tent, whose frame they made from fallen tree trunks. Inside they built a stage for music performances and speeches from anyone who wanted to share. "It's hugely inspiring, all that work happens without a hierarchy and without people getting paid for their labor," says Kalafer. "I felt like people were tapping into some group mind thing, the way these tasks were getting done so efficiently... it's counter to hippy stereotypes, that they're leaches, just stoned and lazy. [At the gatherings] everyone gets a lot of joy out of working with other people."

Kalafer says that part of the reason most people don't know anything about the Rainbow Gatherings is that there's a lot of resistance to cameras at the events. "People told me ‘you're crazy, at best noone's going to talk to you, at worst you're going to get run out of there.'" So the crew was grateful for each person they could get to participate in the documentary. Even among the Rainbows featured in the film, distrust is sometimes evident. "There's paranoia left over from the political movements of the 60s, when they were trying to change the world and the government resisted that change," says Kalafer. "Many rainbows feel like their model of living is a direct threat to the government -- if people can get along and live without a hierarchy, the government is threatened."

We Love You shows a particularly disturbing run-in with federal agents on camera. After arresting a man for smoking pot, a group of Incident Command Team (ICT) agents pointing pepper ball guns entered Kid Village, a sacred area of the gathering designated for families. Rainbows yelled at them to get the guns away from their children and they opened fire, shooting several people with pellets that pierce the skin and release an irritant. They shouted at Kalafer "I don't give a f*** about your press ID, get down the hill or I will tase you."

The film shows the physical and emotional trauma produced by the attack, but also the amazing recovery the Rainbows make. They get up the next morning and commence the annual day of silence on the 4th of July, followed by a parade and all-night party.

This year the Rainbow Gathering was in New Mexico and law enforcement was the friendliest they've ever been. Kalafer says some people told him they thought it was because of his film, that maybe it has helped to show that the ritual is about peace. He also thinks it has made them more self conscious, "the agents thought ‘anything goes out here in the woods, noone can see it,' but once it's exposed, they know some people are watching, they're not free to act any way they want."

He shot more footage in New Mexico and plans to go next year and do it again. After that he's going to make a feature-length movie about the gatherings. For now, though, We Love You is a really fun 40-minute visit to the magical city of the Rainbows. It screens tomorrow at 1 pm at the Laemmle Sunset 5, as part of a program with four other short films.

WE LOVE YOU: Theatrical Trailer from Jonathan Kalafer on Vimeo.

To get advanced tickets to the screening and to see the full LA Shorts Fest schedule, visit www.lashortsfest.com

Story by Chrissy Humphreys.