Manhattan Short Film Festival 2022

Opens on September 23

Run Time: 140 min. Release Year: 2022

Manhattan Short is the only film festival of its kind. The final selections screen simultaneously across the world during a one-week period, where attendees vote for Best Film and Best Actor awards at each participating venue. Every short film selected will automatically become qualified for the Oscars in 2023.

This year’s finalists hail from eight countries with films from Scotland, Chechia & Slovakia, Spain, Australia, Finland and Lebanon, alongside two films each from France and USA. These final ten represent the best short films from among 868 submissions from 70 countries, testimony to the enduring vibrancy and creativity of short films worldwide.

The festival continues to be a showcase for new voices and perspectives, and the Film Center is proud to once again be the exclusive Columbus host.

The Program:

Don vs Lightning

Filmmaker: Big Red Button
Country: Scotland

Don desires a quiet, rural life in the rural Scottish Highlands. Unfortunately, the Universe has more electrifying plans in store for him.

Love, Dad

Filmmaker: Diana Cam Van Nguyen
Country: Czech Republic & Slovakia

A woman rediscovers letters her father wrote to her from prison. She then decides to write to him, putting on paper what couldn’t be said.

Save the Bees

Filmmaker: Charlie Schwan
Country: United States

When a gruesome accident makes a messy break up even messier, a couple decides to set aside their differences in order to save themselves.

The Treatment

Filmmaker: Alvaro Carmona
Country: Spain

A clinic offers bald men a full-proof way to restore hair…as long as you’re okay with one controversial but related side effect.

Freefall

Filmmaker: Emmanuel Tenenbaum
Country: France

A London stockbroker with a bad track record makes the bet of his life when New York’s World Trade Center is attacked on 9/11. Inspired by a true story.

Fetish

Filmmaker: Rhian Williams
Country: United States

An Asian American woman’s one night stand takes an unsexy turn when breakfast the morning after comes with a side of fetishism.

Freedom Swimmer

Filmmaker: Olivia Martin McGuire
Country: Australia & France

A man’s perilous swim from China to Hong Kong parallels his granddaughter’s desire for freedom beyond a city once viewed as a refuge.

The Blanket

Filmmaker: Teppo Airaksinen
Country: Finland

Winter, 1939 Finland. A 10-year-old girl is sent to fetch milk for her baby brother. There are hazards more dangerous than thin ice.

Warsha

Filmmaker: Dania Bdair
Country: France & Lebanon

A Beirut construction worker volunteers for the most dangerous job on the site. Away from everyone’s eyes, a secret passion takes flight

The Big Green

Filmmaker: Laurenzo Massoni
Country: Jeanne Arènes

The owner of a logging camp suddenly finds herself stuck up a tree without a ladder and no signal on her mobile phone. The only way out is up.

Learn more about Manhattan Short Film Festival here.

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