New Haven Register (New Haven, CT)
Manhattan Short film festival to screen Oscar-qualifying movies across CT
The 24th annual Manhattan Short film festival will be screening across Connecticut next week as part of the festival’s initiative to be shown at 500 locations across six continents.
The festival, which has gone on to screen a number of shorts before they became Academy Award-nominees, will run from Sept. 23 through Oct. 3. Former Manhattan Short Oscar nominees included “The Present” in 2020, “Nefta Football Club” in 2019 and “Fauve” in 2018.
Five locations across Connecticut will screen the 10 finalists of the film festival.
Offerings for this year’s festival include “Death by Handshake,” a love letter to New York City during the pandemic; “Bad Omen,” a story about a mother in Afghanistan who struggles to find prescription glasses in order to continue working, and “Monsieur Cachemire,” an eccentric, Coen brothers inspired short revolving around a bank loan officer and a mysterious customer.
Attendees to the screenings will be given ballots to vote on best actor and best film. Winners are chosen by the audience and are announced on Oct. 4 after all screenings have taken place.
All films screened at the Manhattan Short are part of the festival’s Oscar Qualifying Run. In the past three, at least one film shown at the Manhattan Short has gone on to be nominated for an Oscar.