Filmgoers in Sedona will unite with audiences in over 400 venues spanning six continents to view and judge the work of the next generation of filmmakers from around the world when the 22nd Annual Manhattan Short Film Festival screens at the Mary D. Fisher Theatre, Sept. 27-Oct. 3, hosted by the Sedona International Film Festival.
Manhattan Short is the only event of its kind. The ten finalists are screened simultaneously across the world during a one-week period, with the Best Film and Best Actor awards determined by ballots cast by the audiences in each participating cinema. By virtue of their selection by MANHATTAN SHORT, each short film is automatically Oscar-qualified.
The Final Ten MANHATTAN SHORT finalists hail from seven countries with films from France, Iran, Canada, Germany, and Finland alongside two films from USA and a record three from the United Kingdom. These Final ten films represent the best short films among 1250 submissions from 70 countries received by MANHATTAN SHORT for 2019, testimony to the enduring vibrancy and creativity of short films worldwide.
MANHATTAN SHORT continues to be a premier showcase for female directors with five of the Final Ten films directed by woman, including ine from Iran. This year's Final Ten represent an extraordinary range of film genres that includes intimate dramas, spine-tingling suspense, and hilarious comedies, as well as genre surprises like a pair of science fiction films and one that focuses on tennis.
The MANHATTAN SHORT Final Ten are:
Nefta Football Club (France), Debris (USA), Driving Lessons (Iran),Tipped (Canada) Sylvia (United Kingdom), The Match (Finland), This Time Away (UK), Malou (Germany), A Family Affair (UK), At The End of the World (USA)
Film synopsis are as follows:
NEFTA FOOTBALL CLUB: In Tunisia, two football-loving young brothers find a donkey lost in the middle of the desert on the border with Algeria. Buy why is the animal wearing headphones over its ears?
DEBRIS: Following a disastrous accident on his construction site, Armando rushes to save an injured worker but then stumbles into a grim world of human labor trafficking.
DRIVING LESSONS: Local laws say Bahareh’s husband must accompany her to driving lessons so she and her instructor will not be alone, a task made more complicated when the two men don’t get along.
TIPPED: A talented but under-appreciated waitress at an upscale restaurant reaches her tipping point with a table of difficult customers and concocts a special dish of revenge.
SYLVIA: Our love affair with the automobile means that a car can feel like it is part of the family. But on one last road trip, a woman relives the moments that give this car special significance.
THE MATCH: Two middle-aged women turn a friendly game of tennis into an intense competition but stand united at the end of the match when they discover one thing in common.
THIS TIME AWAY: An elderly man lives as a recluse, haunted by his past and memory of the family he once had, until a non-human visitor arrives and disrupts his isolation.
MALOU: Rejected by a famed dance school, Malou gets a chance to prove that she’s destined for a career as a dancer despite the odds seemingly stacked against her.
A FAMILY AFFAIR: When Annabelle wakes up alone in a stranger’s bedroom on her 30th birthday, she thinks the day cannot get any worse. But then Bernard walks in and he is not the man of her dreams.
AT THE END OF THE WORLD: In an apocalyptic future, a lonely government worker finds solace with a soldier during the last World War. But their future together is threatened when the soldier is sent back into battle.
You Be the Judge!
Which of these nine short films is the best? That's up to a worldwide audience to decide. Cinema-goers across the United States and around the globe will become instant film critics as they are handed a ballot upon entry that allows them to vote for the Best Film and Best Actor. Manhattan Short is the ultimate audience award that salutes the creative talents of both directors behind the camera and actors in front of it.
Votes will be sent through to Manhattan Short headquarters with the winner announced at ManhattanShort.com on Monday, Oct. 7, at 10 a.m. EST.