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Global festival looks for local judges

Press Release from the Manhattan Short Fim Festival

Filmgoers in Sydney Cremorne, Wagga Wagga and Tenterfield will unite with audiences in 172 additional cities across five continents to view and judge the next generation of filmmakers when the 12th Annual Manhattan Short Film Festival screens.

The following local screens will play host to the fesitval: Hayden Orpheum Picture Palace, Sydney Cremorne on Sunday 9/20 at 7:00pm; Forum 6 Cinema, Wagga Wagga on Sunday 9/27; Sir Henry Parkes School of Arts Cinema & Theatre , Tenterfield on Sunday 9/20 at 1:45pm as well as on Friday 9/25 at 7:00pm.

This year the festival received 428 entries from 36 countries around the world from which 10 short films – all 14 minutes and under in length – were selected. Countries represented this year include the USA, Australia, Mozambique, UK, Israel, Spain, France, Sweden and Italy in what festival organizers describe as a “Cinematic Olympiad.”

These films will not only entertain a global audience but be judged by them as well. Filmgoers will be handed a voting card upon entry and asked to vote for the one film they feel should win. Votes are tallied at each cinema and forwarded to the festival’s headquarters in NYC where the winner will be announced on Tuesday, Sept 29th at 9:15 pm. (Date pushed back Sunday 27th this year due to Yom Kippur)

With some of our past finalists achieving the highest recognition the industry has to offer by going on to be nominated for and even winning an Oscar in the short film category, including two finalists in the past two festivals, the Manhattan Short has come to be known as one of the best launching pads for filmmakers in the world today.

In one week, over 100,000 people from as far north as St. Petersburg, Russia to as far south as Melbourne, Australia to venues in all 50 US States will view and vote on these 10 films. “While the goal of any festival is to discover and promote future talent, the ultimate aim of this festival is to bring communities together via ten stories from around the world. There is no better insight to what is happening in the world or how the world is feeling than through the eyes, ears and lenses of these short filmmakers,” said Manhattan Short founding director Nicholas Mason.

“From the festival’s humble beginnings when I projected a handful of short films onto a screen mounted onto the side of a truck on a downtown Manhattan Street 12 years ago, to where we are now just blows my mind. In keeping with our mission to unite the world via compelling short films, we’re gearing up to further expand the festival’s reach by screening in every continent around the world during the same week, with venues in Africa scheduled in 2010” said Nicholas Mason.