Filmgoers in Sedona will unite with audiences in over 300 cities spanning six continents to view and judge the work of the next generation of filmmakers from around the world when the 20th Annual Manhattan Short Film Festival screens at the Mary D. Fisher Theatre, Sept. 29-Oct. 4, hosted by the Sedona International Film Festival.
Manhattan Short is the only event of its kind. The Final 10 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.
The 10 Manhattan Short finalists hail from nine countries with films from Syria, Latvia and Georgia representing their respective countries for the first time in this event. Two short films hail from Spain, the only country with multiple Final 10 selections. These Final 10 short films represent the best short films among a record 1615 submissions from 75 countries received by Manhattan Short for 2017, testimony to the enduring vibrancy and creativity of short films.
This year’s Final 10 represent an extraordinary range of film genres with comedy, drama, horror, scifi, animation, and martial arts short films all part of the Manhattan Short program.
In addition, all Final 10 short films will become Oscar-qualified.
The Final 10 are:
Do No Harm (New Zealand), Behind (Spain), Fickle Bickle (USA), Hope Dies Last (United Kingdom), The Perfect Day (Spain), Just Go! (Latvia), Mare Nostrum (Syria), Viola, Franca (Italy), In a Nutshell (Switzerland), 8 Minutes (Georgia).
Film synopsis are as follows:
DO NO HARM: A single-minded surgeon is forced to break her physician’s oath when violent gangsters storm into a hospital to stop a crucial operation.
BEHIND: A divorced mother is obsessed with the idea that her ex-husband is plotting to take her baby away from her.
FICKLE BICKLE: Left alone in a magnificent mansion after the forgetful owner goes on vacation, a plumber contacts his high school crush, knowing she’s always been a “gold-digger”.
HOPE DIES LAST: During World War II, a prisoner working as a barber for the Nazis fears every haircut may be his last.
THE PERFECT DAY: With a $10 million business deal set to close and a date, David figures today will be the best day of his life. Not quite.
JUST GO!: A young man who lost both of his legs in a childhood accident comes to the rescue of the girl he loves when she is victimized by villains.
MARE NOSTRUM: On a Mediterranean shore, a Syrian father’s decision to give his daughter a better life puts her in danger of losing it.
VIOLA, FRANCA: Sicily, 1965. Franca is being forced to marry her rapist to avoid becoming a pariah in her traditionalist community, but she rebels against the established custom.
IN A NUTSHELL: Love, war and the myriad states of humanity and the world condensed into a visual summation that’s a treat for the eyes.
8 MINUTES: With the end of the world fast approaching, an aging magician realized one last feat of magic is required of him.
You Be the Judge!
Which of these 10 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 9, at 10 a.m. EST.
The first Manhattan Short was held in 1998, when 16 short films were shown onto a screen mounted on the side of a truck in Little Italy's Mulberry Street in New York City, and has blossomed into a worldwide phenomenon. Manhattan Short is the only film festival on the planet that unfolds, simultaneously, in cinemas around the world, bringing over 100,000 film-lovers across six continents together for one week, to view the work of the next generation of filmmakers.