The 29th Annual
MANHATTAN SHORT Film Festival.
ONE WORLD – ONE WEEK – ONE FESTIVAL
MANHATTAN SHORT 2026…You Be the Judge!
MANHATTAN SHORT Film Festival: You Be the Judge!
Discover your inner film critic by casting your vote for Best Film and Best Actor in the 29th Annual MANHATTAN SHORT Film Festival screening here on Sept.24-Oct 4, 2026. You’ll join film lovers simultaneously in over 500 venues across the globe gathering to see the Ten Finalist from Ten Countries 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.
Finalists will become eligible to enter the Oscars 2027
Every Film Selected for MANHATTAN SHORT 2026 will be Automatically Qualified for the Oscars of 2027. MANHATTAN SHORT does a full week’s run at a cinema in Hollywood which is advertised in the LA Weekly. This advertised run automatically qualifies each film for the Oscars.
If making short films is about getting your work out there…then nothing quite compares to MANHATTAN SHORT.
For the first time in its history MANHATTAN SHORT has selected ten films from ten countries with films from USA, Ireland, Australia, South Africa, United Kingdom, Moldova, Russia, Cuba, Georgia and Mexico making up MANHATTAN SHORT 2026. “Since 9/11 my vision for this Festival has been to create a filmic Olympiad. An event consisting of ten quality shorts from ten separate countries that joins the world, and finally in 2026 we’ve managed to do that. I’m very excited for the reaction it receives from our worldwide audiences”, says Nicholas Mason, founding director of MANHATTAN SHORT Film Festival.
MANHATTAN SHORT 2026 Finalists:
Small Talk (USA), Mary is Missing (Ireland), Candy Bar (Australia), Vultures (South Africa), Life Goes On (United Kingdom), Hai Davai (Moldova), Pickup (Russia), Norheimsund (Cuba), When the Sea was Calm (Georgia), Never Give Up (Mexico).
Read Interviews with each Finalist: https://www.manhattanshort.com/finalists.html
Our Featured Musical Artist for 2026 is Madeline Rosene. Her song Love & Algorithms will play during intermission at MANHATTAN SHORT 2026. “There’s a TV show being produced right now that’s just waiting for this song to come along” — Nicholas Mason.