Aniston and Howard bare shorts at film fest

Jennifer Aniston and Bryce Dallas Howard will show off their directing skills at the Palm Springs International Festival of Short Films & Short Film Market, which kicks off August 23.

Aniston's "Room 10," a romantic drama she directed with Andrea Buchanan, stars Robin Wright Penn as a nurse alongside Kris Kristofferson. Howard's "Orchids" stars Alfred Molina and Katherine Waterston in an unlikely romance.

Other familiar names who will appear in some of the shorts on display include James Gandolfini, Louis Gossett Jr., Joe Mantegna and Steven R. McQueen in "Club Soda"; Patrick Stewart and Joanna Lumley in "The Audition"; Ron Livingston in "Life Happens"; Margaret Cho and Jane Lynch in "Love Is Love"; David Morse in "A.W.O.L."; Ron Silver and JoBeth Williams in "Call It Fiction"; and Wendie Malick in "Waiting for Yvette."

The event, now in its 13th year, will run at the Camelot Theatres in Palm Springs through August 29