Manhattan Short Film Festival

Join us October 1st through 4th when over 100,000 film lovers in over 300 cities across six continents gather during one week in Cinemas, Museums and Universities for one purpose—to view and vote on the Finalists’ Films in the 23rd Annual Manhattan Short Film Festival.

This year, the MANHATTAN SHORT Film Festival received 971 entries from 54 countries and selected nine finalists. The Final Nine MANHATTAN SHORT selections hail from nine countries with films from Australia, Finland, Iran, Russia, Israel, North Macedonia, State of Palestine and USA. The Final Nine screening simultaneously across the world during a one-month period, with the Best Film and Best Actor awards determined by ballots cast by the audiences in each participating venue.

This year’s selections use drama, comedy and animation to address an astonishing number of themes, ranging from identity to parenthood to the seemingly universal frustration caused by the Department of Motor Vehicles no matter the country. The directorial voices are both male and female from countries large and small, often inspired by personal and sometimes harrowing, experience. This year’s Final Nine screening is a rare instance when gripping dramas from Iran, Israel, and the State of Palestine are featured in the same program.

MANHATTAN SHORT is not a touring Festival; rather, it is an instantaneous celebration that occurs simultaneously across the globe, bringing great films to great venues and allowing the audiences to select their favorites. If the Film Festival experience truly is about getting great works in front of as many eyes as possible, MANHATTAN SHORT offers the ultimate platform—one that sees its films screened in Sydney, Mumbai, Moscow, Vienna, Cape Town to cinemas in all 50 states of the United States and beyond—and you are the judge!