These short films will not only entertain a global audience but will be judged by them as well as filmgoers are asked to vote for the one film they feel should win. In addition, for the first time in the event's history, viewers will be asked to vote for a Best Actor as well. Votes are tallied and submitted to festival HQ in New York City where the winner will be announced (and posted on the net at www.ManhattanShort.com) on Sunday, Oct. 6 at 10 p.m. This year's finalists for the 'United Nations of Film Festivals' include:
- "#30" (Timothy Wilde) Australia
- "Do I Have to Take Care of Everything" (Selma Vilhunen) Finland
- 'Friday' (Seb Edwards) England
- 'No Comment' (Alexandra Naoum) France
- 'Irish Folk Furniture" (Tony Donaghue) Ireland
- 'Black Metal' (Kat Candler) USA
- 'Faces From Places' (Bastien Dubois) France
- 'I Am a Great Big Ball of Sadness' (Ken Urban) USA
- 'Kismet Diner' (Mark Nunnely) England
- 'Pale of Settlement' (Jacob Sillman) USA
The film program continues at The Grand with 'Celebrating Diversity- the 3rd Annual Maine LGBT Film Festival' running on Saturday, Oct. 19 and a special 'Life of Pi Event' on Friday Oct. 25 at 7 p.m. featuring a Q&A with the film's nautical consultant, author (and Lamoine native) Steven Callahan.
For more information on these or other Grand events, please call the box office at (207) 667-9500, visit The Grand website at www.grandonline.org or follow on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Grand-Auditorium/112755987339.