Paramount On Screen: Manhattan Short Film Festival
MANHATTAN SHORT 2025…You Be the Judge!
Discover your inner film critic by casting your vote for Best Film and Best Actor in the 27th Annual MANHATTAN SHORT Film Festival screening Sept.25-Oct. 5, 2025. 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 Films
EM & SELMA GO GRIFFIN HUNTING
Directed by: Alexander Thompson
Principal Cast: Milly Shapiro. Pollyanna McIntosh
Country: USA
Running Time: 18:00
Synopsis: A tale of mothers and daughters and the fantastical beasts they hunt. Love hurts.
AL FRESCO
Directed by: Ignacio Rodó
Principal Cast: Roc Esquius, Marc Pujol, Alexandra Agulló
Country: Spain
Running Time: 8:00
Synopsis: Large space in a dream apartment. Unbeatable location. Ready to move in. Plenty of light.
CHASING THE PARTY
Directed by: Jessie Komitor
Principal Cast: Joe Swanberg, Lucia Ryan, Kitana Turnbull
Country: USA
Running Time: 14:00
Synopsis: 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
Directed by: Jordan Michael Blake
Animators: Jordan Michael Blake, Derek Holguin
Country: USA
Running Time: 12:00
Synopsis: Paradise Man’s obsession with golf is waylaid when his mother has an accident, causing him to look deeply within himself.
WE HAVED SINNED BEFORE YOU
Directed by: Ifat Nener Orgad
Principal Cast: Tali Sharon, Yiftach Klein, Ariel Schwartz, Amir Meyuhas, Roni Orgad
Country: Israel
Running Time: 19:18
Synopsis: 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
Directed by: Mikey Altoft
Principal Cast: Lisa Jones, Matt Sproit, Patsy Rumball, Adam Young
Country: United Kingdom
Running Time: 15:00
Synopsis: Amanda is just 8 years old when a singular incident shapes the rest of her life.
OVARY-ACTING
Directed by: Ida Melum
Principal Cast: Synnøve Karlsen and Sofia Oxenham
Country: Norway, UK, Sweden
Running Time: 12:24
Synopsis: 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
Directed by: Marnie Blok
Principal Cast: Henrianne Jansen, Sigrid ten Napel, Tamar van den Dop
Country: The Netherlands
Running Time: 17:00
Synopsis: 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 is finds the courage to break it.
ZODIAC
Directed by: Hans Buyse
Principal Cast: Titus De Voogdt, Bart Hollanders
Country: Belgium
Running Time: 14:50
Synopsis: Two old friends on a fishing trip encounter drifting refugees in distress at sea.
PASSARINHO
Directed by: Natalia García Agraz
Principal Cast: Camila Robertson, Isabella Patrón, Naomy Romo, Anthony Mawena Kokou
Country: Mexico
Running Time: 12:00
Synopsis: Two teenage girls try to meet their favorite soccer player but the plan is threatened when one of them gets her first period.
KNOW BEFORE YOU GO! The Paramount Theater is pleased to bring diverse programming to the stage and screen. The Theater does not provide advisories about subject matter for events, as sensitivities vary. Not all events may appeal to, or be appropriate for, every person. Patrons are encouraged to familiarize themselves with the shows offered in order to make informed decisions prior to purchasing tickets.
In addition to show synopses, trailers, and reviews on our web events, other resources about content and age-appropriateness for specific films can be found on Common Sense Media, IMDb, and DoesTheDogDie.com as well as through general internet searches. For further questions, please contact the Box Office at 434.979.1333 or at boxoffice@theparamount.net, 10AM-2PM Monday-Friday + 1 hour before events.
Event Sponsors:
Helen & John Steele
