Manhattan Short Film Festival visits Buskirk

This Sunday, Bloomington residents will have the opportunity to join the ranks of Susan Sarandon, Tim Robbins, Roger Corman, Eric Stoltz and Laura Linney. The Manhattan Short Film Festival, a competition evaluating quality film submissions, is coming to the Buskirk-Chumley Theater, and viewers will help determine the competition winner.\nFor any filmmaker, producing a short film is an important route to becoming recognized. In 1998, Nicholas Mason came up with an approach to provide new talents with a route of entry into the film industry. He created The Manhattan Short Film Festival, which gives 12 up-and-coming filmmakers an opportunity to present their short film at Union Square Park in New York City. Each filmmaker competes for the grand prize, which includes all of the materials and services that are needed to make a full-length feature film. \n"Any art has a statement that says 'Show me, don't tell me,'" Mason said. \nThe first festival was so lucrative that it became an annual happening. All of the short films featured at the festival are commercially viable and targeted to a mainstream audience. The inevitable excitement and public acclamation the festival brings is a positive bonus for the contestants.\n"All of the films involved are very well constructed and well conceived," said Danielle McClelland, Buskirk-Chumley managing director. "They are high quality production films, not independent such as those featured in the Ann Arbor festival. These films require a lot of money."\nThis year, Mason chose Indiana as one of the seven states where the short film festival would be screened and the selection of a winner would take place. The film festival will screen at 7 p.m. Sunday at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater, 114 E. Kirkwood Ave. The winner of the competition will be announced in Manhattan Sept. 18.\nIn the past, judging of the films has been done by celebrities who have used their insider perspective and knowledge in filmmaking to help in choosing the winner, Mason said. While about 3,000 viewers from the general public have been admitted to the screening in Union Square, they only viewed the films for personal entertainment purposes in the past. This year, Mason said he decided to hand festival judging over to the general public. \nWhen asked why he chose to allow the public to pick the winner rather than those with status similar to previous judges, Mason quoted actor and studio director Stella Adler. As Mason had watched her do interviews in the past, he heard someone ask her the question, "If you go, do you become a star?" \n"We teach acting," Adler replied. "It's the public that creates stars."\nMason said he strongly agrees with Adler's remark and continued to account for the reasons which influenced him to shift over the voting process. \n"If the general public likes it, Mickey Mouse likes it too," Mason said.\nThis year the festival received 632 entries from 32 countries. All films are less than fourteen minutes. The 12 2004 finalists include entries from the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, Australia, Spain and India. Tickets to the Buskirk-Chumley Theater are $10 and $8 for students with a valid ID.\n— Contact staff writer Mallory Zalkin at mzalkin@indiana.edu