World War Z Short Film

[Mrx Wylie]

Theresulting film is intimate and personal. The short lacks a definitive sense of conclusion (as is common when broaching this tonal aesthetic in the short form), but that seems intentional in regards to this subject here: there are no clean breaks or neat conclusions for those so inherently tangled with each other.

Many have asked how MANHATTAN SHORT came about and grew to what it is today. I've read stories in the press all over the world, and there are so many incorrect facts written about MANHATTAN SHORT, I thought it time to get the record straight. First of all, I'm not the drummer of Pink Floyd, but on September 27th 1998, I did attach a screen to the side of a truck on Mulberry Street NYC and projected 16 short films to an audience of about 300 New Yorkers scattered in the street, in what was the first MANHATTAN SHORT Film Festival.

The following year we moved the event to Union Square Park NYC, with the Finalists' Films being judged by a panel of celebrity judges including Susan Sarandon, Eric Stoltz, Laura Linney, Roger Corman & Tim Robbins, to name a few notables. And that was how the event stayed, a pretty low key event in NYC until 2001.

That year the Festival was scheduled for September 23rd 2001, just 12 days after 9/11. During the days leading up to this, Union Square Park became a shrine, a place where people gathered to grieve the loss of loved ones. The park was also surrounded by News Satellite trucks covering New York City and Ground Zero to the rest of the world. On September 15th I received a call from the NYC Parks Department, who requested no matter what, to please go ahead with MANHATTAN SHORT in Union Square Park as scheduled on September 23rd.

We did, and the event received a lot of attention in the global media. A direct result from this was, the following year we received double the amount of film entries than we had from previous years. When I went through all 500 entries in 2002, I found the films collectively, were more revealing to what was happening in the world or how people in the world were feeling at that time, then say watching the ABC or NBC or any other form of news channel. The idea of sharing this event with a wider audience outside Union Square Park NYC was inspired by all the films that entered this Festival during the years after 9/11.

In 2003, I attempted to do a "Live" broadcast of the event from the park where all equipment we brought in for the live broadcast broke down and the whole project failed miserably. For the 2004 Film Festival, we created DVDs of the Finalists, and distributed them, along with Programs & Posters to seven cinemas, in seven cities in seven US states for seven shows in one week. It was also the year we introduced the "You Be the Judge!" concept, where we took the judging of the films away from celebrities and handed it over to the public. It was a huge success. The following year 2005, I contacted just about every independent arthouse cinema across the United States I could find, inviting them to be part of this event. We had 72 venues in 32 US states involved in 2005. Then in 2006, I packed a backpack and traveled Europe, talking to cinemas inviting them to be part of this Film Festival. About 20 Cinemas joined in, and that year, the film festival took place on both sides of the Atlantic. Audiences loved it, and each year after that we just continued to add venues in new continents, South America, Australia, Asia and in 2010 we added Africa to become the World's first Global Film Festival.

Today over 350 Cities across 6 continents take part in MANHATTAN SHORT during ONE WEEK of the year. It amazes me how an event can grow from a screen mounted onto the side of a truck on a downtown street, to what it is today in twenty-one years. There are many reasons for its success, and the main reasons are the Cinemas/Venues we partner with along with the cinema-going public that support them. I have become a firm believer that it's the public that create stars. Be it a film, a tune, a book, a new game, whatever... get it out to the public, get it in the right place, the right forum, and the public will transform it and take it to a place one would never have imagined.

So that's how it happened, that's how it came to be... it was never planned but grew organically. Through a combination of being in the right place at the wrong time such as Union Square Park days after 9/11, unfailing enthusiasm for brilliant films and most of all the participation of the public throughout the world, have made MANHATTAN SHORT become what it is today. On behalf of us at MANHATTAN SHORT and the Filmmakers, we would like to thank YOU, the cinema-going public all over the world, for making MANHATTAN SHORT what it is today, as one reporter called it, "The World's most people powered Film Festival." That reporter got it right.

Cinema16: World Short Films is a DVD featuring short films from multiple countries, directed by the likes of Guillermo del Toro, Alfonso Cuarn and Park Chan-Wook, as well as less widely known directors. It is the fifth and, to date, last in a series of DVDs released by Cinema16.[1]

A Movie Mail review says, "Add to this a couple of characteristically invigorating shorts by Mexico's Guillermo del Toro and Alfonso Cuarn, and a wonderfully left-field experiment in biography by Guy Maddin and Isabella Rossellini, and you have an essential collection."[3]

A Scotsman review says, "With many of the films boasting insightful director commentaries, too, it's also like having your own film-school tutorials. The best one comes from Guillermo del Toro, courtesy of the self-deprecating chat-track for his extremely rough-looking noir thriller, Doa Lupe, shot when he was 19.[4]

Asbury Shorts is New York City's longest running exhibition of award-winning short films and producer Doug LeClaire brings the World's Best Short Films back the to Algonquin. Produced as a fast-paced event in a "Short Film Concert" format, the program features the best in comedy, drama and animation by combining classic shorts with new international festival winners. A rare opportunity to see world-class short films on the big screen in a theatrical setting.

Between the release of Jurassic World Fallen Kingdom and Dominion we got two short films, both directed by Colin Trevorrow, both released for different reasons not entirely planned to be made, but for various circumstances they ended up happening. They are both great in their own way and shows that official short films in the Jurassic Park universe are a thing that works and we should get more of.

Despite its flaws in its visual effects, Self-Assembly is still an intriguing and uncanny surrealist horror short. It will make you question your sanity, and make you think twice about your next cabinet purchase.

A quarterfinalist in the first Killer Shorts competition. Jay Slater has had an interest in film from a young age, and a lifelong interest in horror. He's based in Los Angeles, and is currently aspiring to have a career in the industry, preferably as a screenwriter.

The award winners all called on each other to be bridge builders and allies within the entertainment industry within their short speeches. They uplifted the volunteers of the Festival and welled with emotion thinking about the last 10 days of discovery and connection. Laughter, elated cursing, and love was the theme of the morning and the full 2023 Festival.

Jury citation: This film focuses on a singular, unapologetic voice, and through her story it captures the experience of the collective. The strong directorial vision illuminates the joy and the raw reality of the Black experience. Also it is fucking funny. The U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Documentary goes to Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project.

Jury citation: This film is a deep dive into grief and the complications of mourning. It has a rigorous and unflinching lens that holds steadfast to the cinematic language the director chose for the film. The Directing Award: U.S. Documentary goes to Luke Lorentzen, A Still Small Voice.

Jury citation: A transcendental story of women that bring us into their bodies, their traumas and their healing. Tales of patriarchy that we have rarely seen on screen come together with cinematic beauty, humor, wisdom and refreshing self-awareness. The directing award goes to Anna Hints, Smoke Sauna Sisterhood.

Jury citation: We were impressed by the craft of this screenplay that wove together the lives of a fractured family over multiple generations with humor, candor, affection, and verve before surprising us all with the revelation of a family secret that healed past wounds. The Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award: U.S. Dramatic goes to Maryam Keshavarz, The Persian Version.

A U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award: Clarity of Vision was presented to The Stroll

Jury citation: It demonstrates an intimate look from the people who have the lived experience. It shows why it is important for the people who are members of the community to be at the helm of their stories. The U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award: Clarity of Vision goes to The Stroll.

A World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award: Creative Vision was presented to Fantastic Machine

Jury citation: For sending us on a journey to realize that the invention of image was perhaps one of the most important turning points of our recent history, reshaping radically our inner structure and sense of identity. In a time where everyone is the creator of their own narrative, through image, the film forces, everyone, even us filmmakers, to take a step back and reflect upon our intentions regarding the images we want to put out into the world. It is an artful, hilarious and terrifying homage to the importance of critical thinking. The World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award: Creative Vision goes to Fantastic Machine.

Jury citation: In a time where we are inundated with climate change headlines that seems to not be leading to much change, here is a film that places us in the point of view of two unforgettable protagonists. Their lives, hardships and humor reflect those of billions of people that are most affected by global warming and who are seeing their livelihoods being threatened in its essence. It reminds of the power of verite filmmaking to transport us into the lives of people who might be so distant from us and experience the challenges of their life circumstances first hand. The World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award: Verite Filmmaking goes to Against the Tide.

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