With fewer than five film festivals great and small playing throughout the county, September signals an early Christmas for San Diego film fans.

No sooner have the Imperial Beach, Temecula and El Cajon Film Fests gone on vacation that the grandaddy of them all, the San Diego Film Festival, comes roaring into nothing less than the Pacific Gaslamp 15 Theatre.

Featuring talent from around the globe, including Mexico and Canada, the festival has also invited and scheduled several filmmakers for Q&A sessions after their films.

Highlights include the world premiere of “The Box,” a gritty drama about an LAPD officer who leads a heist gone awry.

Those more interested in local talent will be delighted to know that there’s no shortage of it. Of particular notice is “Deacon’s Mondays” by San Diego State alumni Lowell Frank and Destin Cretton, a delightful modern fairy tale in the vein of “Amelie” about a lowly, innocent landscaper and his search for redemption.

Already having recieved wide exposure for their documentary “Drakmar: A Rascal’s Journey,” which will enjoy another run on HBO Family this October, Frank and Cretton have proven to be filmmakers capable of telling truly emotional tales. Three years in the making, “Deacon’s Mondays” is no exception.

Also playing is SDSU professor Greg Durbin’s “Passing Through,” a Luis Bu