Register 40 Seats Remaining
Manhattan Short
Thursday, September 24
3:30pm - 6:30pm
Effingham Public Library
Workman RoomExperience an in person, one day showing of MANHATTAN SHORT's 29th Annual Film Festival. Watch, and participate in this global event! Join us when you can-late arrivals are always welcome.
MANHATTAN SHORT is a worldwide event taking place in over 500 venues across six continents between September 24 and October 4, 2026. MANHATTAN SHORT is the only event of its kind. The ten Finalists will screen simultaneously across the world during a one-week period, with the Best Film and Best Actor awards determined by ballots cast by the audiences in each participating venue. By virtue of their selection by MANHATTAN SHORT, each short film is automatically Oscar-qualified.
The MANHATTAN SHORT 2026 line-up screens a worldwide line-up of 10 short films that explore a wide range of topics relevant to everyone.
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.
Registration is required.
Effingham Public Library
The Suzette Brumleve Memorial Effingham Public Library is the public library of Effingham, Illinois. We have over 50,000 books, magazines, and audio-visual materials and an annual circulation of over 250,000 items. We also offer a wide variety of programs and services.
