MANHATTAN SHORT Film Festival
A BIMA PRISM PROGRAM
Come and view 10 engrossing short films from around the world at the MANHATTAN SHORT Film Festival! But this isn’t a passive viewing as the audience (you!) will vote for your favorite short film and favorite actor at the end! Many past shorts have been considered for Academy Awards—two have even won the coveted prize.
All eight showings feature the same 10 short films. The program is roughly 2.5 hours, including an intermission, but give yourselves extra time to fill out your ballot.
And remember, YOU BE THE JUDGE! You will be given a brochure and a ballot so you can vote for your favorite actor and favorite film. Winning filmmakers receive cash and/or filmmaking accessories to further their talent, and their short will be reviewed by the Academy Award Committee, with the possibility of having their film in the running for an Oscar.
Be sure to get your tickets soon, MANHATTAN SHORT sells out!
SCREENINGS:
September 24: 3 PM & 6:30 PM
September 25: 3 PM & 6:30 PM
September 26: 3 PM (SOLD OUT) & 6:30 PM
September 27: 3 PM & 6:30 PM
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LEARN ABOUT THIS YEAR’S FILMS:
2026 MANHATTAN SHORT TRAILER 2026
Small Talk
Synopsis: In a neon-drenched future where AI has consumed nearly every profession, a weary cab driver preserves the last traces of humanity the only way he can… through small talk.
Directed by: Eduardo Moral
Principal Cast: Richard Neil, Holgie Forrester, Mike Thompson
Country: USA
Time: 8:40
Mary is Missing
Synopsis: When care worker Mary vanishes without a trace, Detective Foley arrives at the Yellow Tree Day Service, and investigations begin. As reports from the eyewitnesses become more and more confounding, we are asked to explore the reliability of truth, the strangeness of fiction, and the people we choose to believe.
Directed by: Aisling Byrne
Principal Cast: Derek McSweeney, Eoghan Ashe, Ella-Jane Moore, Jackie O’Hagan
Country: Ireland
Time: 22:00
Candy Bar
Synopsis: A young girl thinks a man in the candy bar line looks like her dad.
Director: Nash Edgerton
Principal Cast: Damon Herriman, Andrea Demetriades, Zumi Edgerton, Caitlin Burley
Country: Australia
Running Time: 6:19
Vultures
Synopsis: In the volatile moments after a car crash, before the authorities arrive, a hot-headed yet desperate tow truck driver fiercely protects his tow. But the situation quickly spirals out of his control.
Directed by: Dian Weys
Principal Cast: Edwin van der Walt, Jill Levenberg, Albert Pretorius, Oscar Petersen
Country: South Africa
Time: 15:00
Life Goes On
Synopsis: Bill is in end-of-life care waiting for the sweet release of death – but unfortunately for him, he’s stuck in an infinite time loop, causing the day to restart the second his heart stops…
Directed by: Kat Butterfield & Daniel Audritt
Principal Cast: David Bradley, Maggie Steed, Matt Berry, Laura Checkley
Country: United Kingdom
Time: 19:00
Hai Davai
Synopsis: On the cusp of leaving her rural Moldovan village for a new life abroad, Nina is stopped, quite literally, by an old superstition: a black cat crosses the road. Citing bad luck, her worried grandmother refuses to let her pass.
Directed by: Vlad Gradescu
Principal Cast: Paula Macovoz, Aliona Oleinic, Lilea Bejan, Iraida Bobescu
Country: Moldova
Time: 16:00
Pickup
Synopsis: At a pickup workshop, every girl gets a mission — flirt, charm, and win. For Di, the shyest one in the room, the task is simple: ask a guy to buy her coffee. Passing by her more confident “competitors,” she ends up on a rooftop smoking area, where she meets Alex — a man about to end his life.
Directed by: Viktoriia Lapushkina
Principal Cast: Elizaveta Ishcenko, Arseny Segeev, Evgeniia Lazareva
Country: Russia
Time: 3:00
Norheimsund
Synopsis: A girl’s long-distance romance with an older Norwegian man promises to pull her and her mother from their austere life in Cuba, but her dreams are shaken when she realizes he isn’t as idyllic as he seems.
Directed by: Ana. A. Alpizar
Principal Cast: Yaité Ruiz, Paula Massó Varela, Darianis Palenzuela, Kiriam Gutiérrez
Country: Cuba
Time: 12:00
When the Sea Was Calm
Synopsis: When the Sea Was Calm is a silent, hand-crafted Georgian animated short that transforms memories of pre-war Sokhumi into a poetic story of childhood, first love, exile, and the dream of return.
Director and Animator: Mamuka Tkeshelashvili
Producer: Vladimer Katcharava
Country: Georgia
Running Time: 18:00
Never Give Up!
Synopsis: Alone in the desert, a young boy attempts to cross the U.S.—Mexico border guided only by his mother’s final words: never give up. An unexpected source of hope leads him toward a twist that redefines survival.
Directed by: Tamás Yvan Topolánszky
Principal Cast: José Maria Gomez, Ariana Lebrón
Country: Hungary, Mexico
Time: 19:58
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