Manhattan Shorts 2025 (Votiv Kino De France)

The 28th Annual Manhattan Short Film Festival will take place worldwide from September, 25 – October, 5, 2025, with Vienna’s screening at the Votiv Kino on October 3, 2025. Ten finalists from seven countries compete for the Audience Awards for Best Film and Best Actor, with all selections automatically qualifying for the Oscars. 

Em & Selma Go Griffin Hunting (USA) | 18 mins
Synopsis: A tale of mothers and daughters and the fantastical beasts they hunt. Love hurts.

Al Fresco (ESP) | 8 mins
Synopsis: Large space in a dream apartment. Unbeatable location. Ready to move in. Plenty of light.

Chasing the Party (USA) | 14 mins
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 (USA) | 12 mins
Synopsis: Paradise Man’s obsession with golf is waylaid when his mother has an accident, causing him to look deeply within himself.

We Have Sinned Before You (ISR) | 19 mins 18 secs
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 (UK) | 15 mins
Synopsis: Amanda is just 8 years old when a singular incident shapes the rest of her life.

Ovary-Acting (NOR/UK/SWE) | 12 mins 24 secs
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 (NED) | 17 mins
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 finds the courage to break it.

Zodiac (BEL) | 14 mins 50 secs
Synopsis: Two old friends on a fishing trip encounter drifting refugees in distress at sea.

Passarinho (MEX) | 12 mins
Synopsis: Two teenage girls try to meet their favorite soccer player but the plan is threatened when one of them gets their first period.