Manhattan movies to play in Wrenshall barn

Filmgoers in Wrenshall will unite with audiences in 203 cities spanning six continents to view and judge the next generation of filmmakers for the 12th Annual Manhattan Short Film Festival to screen at Free Range Film Barn at 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 1.

Out of 440 entries received from 43 countries around the world, Manhattan Short selected 10 short films as finalists. Each film is 15 minutes or under in length. Countries represented this year include Australia, Canada, UK, Germany, Croatia, Ireland, Mexico, France, Poland and Italy in what festival organizers describe as the “United Nations of film festivals.”

These short films will not only entertain a global audience but will be judged by them as well. Filmgoers will be handed a voting card and asked to vote for the one film they feel should win. Votes are tallied at each participating cinema and submitted to festival headquarters where the winner will be announced at 10 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 3, in New York City.

With past finalists achieving the ultimate in recognition by being nominated and even winning the Oscar in the short film category, the Manhattan Short has become known as a testing ground for the next big thing.

In one week, over 100,000 people from as far north as St. Petersburg, Russia, to as far south as Buenos Aires, Argentina, as far east as Katmandu, Nepal, and as far west as Perth, Australia, will come together to view and vote on these 10 films.

“While the goal of any festival is to discover and promote new talent, the real aim of this festival is to bring communities together via stories from around the world,” said Nicholas Mason, Manhattan Short founder and director.

“Never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined that what started as a small, relatively simple event when I projected a handful of short films onto the side of a truck on a downtown Manhattan street 12 years ago, would grow to become the world’s first global film festival,” added Mason.

For more information on the Festival and to read detailed interviews with the 10 Finalists visit www.ManhattanShort.com.

The 2010 finalists include: “Watching” (United Kingdom), “Push Bike” (Australia), “Underground” (Mexico), “Little Inconvenience” (Canada), “Party” (Croatia), “Echo” (Poland), “Madagascar” (France), “12 Years” (Germany), “The Pool” (Ireland), and “War” (Italy).

For more information,

call Anne Dugan at 218-310-4703 or e-mail her at annie@freerangefilm.com.

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