About the festival
The 2009 Manhattan Short will be held in over 150 cities across the Americas, Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Australia between the 20th and 27th of September 2009.
In 2009 marked the inviting of venues in Asia and The Middle East with venues in Africa scheduled for 2010 and ice stations in Antarctica in 2011.
Mission: The Manhattan Shorts mission is to unite audiences from all seven continents of the globe for one week via the twelve most compelling short films submitted each year. One World One Week One Festival is emblazoned within the rings that surround the Festivals Logo and it is this mantra that sets us apart from any other film event of the year.
For up-and-coming filmmakers what greater test for your film is there than to be judged in cinemas by a global audience?
Each venue will be showing 12 short films for a total performance time of 2 hours. Space 360 will be hosting the films on Sunday, September 20th through Saturday, September 26th.
At the end of each viewing the audience will vote on their favorite films. Then at the end of the festival on September 27th, there will be a final showing in New York City where all the votes from all the venues will be tallied and the winners will be announced. This year, the Manhattan Short Film Festival selected the twelve finalists from over 500 entries from all around the world. The short films, each approximately 10 minutes in length, have been directed and produced by a variety of talented film-makers eager to compete for the best film award and to get exposure in front of such a diverse, massive audience in one week with measurable feedback.
The successful short films have typically gone on to win awards elsewhere. In 2007 two films received significant acclaim. I Met the Walrus, an animated film around a tape recording of John Lennon taken by a 13 year boy, won best animated film at the Festival and went on to be nominated for an Oscar. A British Film called Soft about a father’s lack of courage in protecting his son received a BAFTA (The British Academy of Film and Television Arts) nomination. Both of these films were entered in the Sundance Festival as well.
AWARDS GIVEN
Best Film
Best Student Film
Best Animation
Best Screenplay
Best Edited Short
Best Documentary
How The Voting Works
Upon entry at all participating venues, festival attendees are handed a Voting Cardand an Official Program and asked to vote for the ONE Film they feel should win. Votes are tallied by each host venue then emailed to our NYC headquarters.
Due to international time differences, votes are often tallied just hours before the last screening in Union Square Park, where the winner is announced on Sunday, September 27th at 9:15pm EST.
The Winners will be posted on the Festivals website ON Sunday Sept 27 at 10:00 pm EST. The winner is always announced on the last Sunday of September each year.
