It’s hard to imagine a more fertile soil for film festivals than the Washington region, which before 1987 — the year Filmfest DC was born — had none. Now the DMV boasts dozens of them of them, large and small, from Annapolis to Middleburg and from Baltimore to Richmond, and celebrating such far-ranging topics as the environment, investigative journalism, Judaism, horror, linguistic diversity and cat videos. Countries represented by their own local film festivals include Iran, Korea, Germany and France. ¶ “Wait — whoa. . . .” ¶ That’s Tony Gittens, the founder and director of Filmfest DC, when told just how many festivals have been spawned in the 33 years since he started what is now the granddaddy of them all. His is an understandable reaction. But we’re here to help anyone who is overwhelmed by the options — as well as those who never heard of any of them. ¶ The spring film festival season is about to burst forth in Washington (yes, there’s a whole other season that kicks into high gear in the fall). Check out this guide to the best of the fests over the next few months, beginning with one that’s already in full swing.