Discover your inner film critic by casting your vote for Best Film and Best Actor in the 28th Annual Manhattan Short Film Festival!
You'll join film lovers in over 500 venues across the globe gathering to see the ten finalists in this year's event. With past finalists garnering Oscar nominations and short films continuing to move into the Hollywood mainstream, come see this entertaining program featuring the best short films in the world today! Ballots supplied upon entry.
The Manhattan Short 2025 line-up screens a worldwide line-up of 10 short films that explore a wide range of topics relevant to everyone. Have a look at both dramatic and comical takes on migration, reconciliation, housing prices, parenthood and the price of silence, not to mention the trials and tribulations of growing into adulthood, especially when fantastical and dangerous griffins fly overhead and you have an OMG murderous mother. And what is it about golf anyway? Audiences will find it more difficult than ever to vote for Best Film and Best Actor.
The Ten Manhattan Short Finalists hail from seven countries with films from Spain, Israel, United Kingdom, Norway, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Mexico, alongside three films from the USA. "These ten short films bring a much-needed positive energy to the world!" says Nicholas Mason, founding director of Manhattan Short Film Festival.
The Manhattan Short Final Ten are:
Em & Selma Go Griffin Hunting (USA): A tale of mothers and daughters and the fantastical beasts they hunt. Love hurts.
Al Fresco (Spain): Large space in a dream apartment. Unbeatable location. Ready to move in. Plenty of light.
Chasing the Party (USA): Seventeen-year-old suburbanites Melissa and Stephanie fantasize about becoming "IT" girls in the Lower East Side party scene circa 2007. Their dreams come crashing down when the photographer they idolize is the one to lift the veil.
Paradise Man (USA): Paradise Man's obsession with golf is waylaid when his mother has an accident, causing him to look deeply within himself.
We Have Sinned Before You (Israel): A game designed to pass the time on Yom Kippur brings up secrets and difficulties that could tear the Dagan family apart.
I Have My Reasons (United Kingdom): Amanda is just 8 years old when a singular incident shapes the rest of her life.
Ovary-Acting (Norway): Stuck at her sister's baby shower, Eva, a thirty-something woman, is forced to decide whether she wants to be a mother after unexpectedly giving birth to her reproductive organs, Ovy.
Beyond Silence (The Netherlands): Two women, two generations, one shared trauma. One has been silent for over thirty years, the other for "only" a year and a half. Where one retreats further into silence after a confrontation, the other finds the courage to break it.
Zodiak (Belgium): Two old friends on a fishing trip encounter drifting refugees in distress at sea.
Passarinho (Mexico): Two teenage girls try to meet their favorite soccer player but the plan is threatened when one of them gets her first period.
Read interviews with each finalist here!
Film Prices
Lincoln Theatre Members get $3.00 off on the following prices when buying tickets at-the-door:
General: $12.00
Seniors, Students, and Active Military: $11.00
Children 12 and under: $9.50
All prices include a $2.00 Preservation Fee that goes directly into our capital account for the preservation of the Lincoln Theatre and its programs.