Des Moines Art Center brings MANHATTAN SHORT Film Festival to local audiences for seventh year

Des Moines, IA (September 2017) — The Des Moines Art Center is honored to once again host the MANHATTAN SHORT Film Festival—the world’s first global film festival—on three dates: Sunday, October 1 at 1:30 p.m.; Thursday, October 5 at 6:30 p.m.; and Sunday, October 8 at 1:30 p.m. Each screening shows the same 10 films, and runs 1 hour 51 minutes. This program is FREE and will be held in Levitt Auditorium. The films are not rated, but are intended for adult audiences. Reservations are being taken for each of the three dates to ensure all interested viewers have a chance to see the films and cast their votes.*

Established in New York City in 1997, The MANHATTAN SHORT Film Festival received 1,615 entries from 75 countries this year. Ten entries have been selected as finalists in the annual Festival, and will be packaged and distributed on DVD to participating theaters. All of the finalists are Oscar-qualified, making them eligible for an Academy Award nomination. Audiences from around the world unite not only to view the films, but to vote on the films as well as the actors. (Attendees at the 10/1, 10/5, and 10/8 screenings will all have the opportunity to vote.) MANHATTAN SHORT Film Festival will announce the winner on Monday, October 9 and the Art Center will also post the results at desmoinesartcenter.org.
*Space is limited for these screenings. FREE reservations can be made at desmoinesartcenter.org by clicking on EVENT RESERVATIONS on the homepage. After completing online registration, a confirmation email will be sent. A correct email address must be received for confirmation. If an email is not received shortly after registering, a call should be placed to 515.271.0328 and the reservation will be checked.

Doors to the theater open 30 minutes prior to the screening.

More detailed information can be found at http://www.manhattanshort.com/finalists.html.

DO NO HARM

Rosanne Liang, director / New Zealand / 12:00 minutes

A single-minded surgeon is forced to break her physician’s oath when violent gangsters storm into a hospital to stop a crucial operation.

behind

Ángel Gόmez Hernández, director / Spain / 15:00 minutes
A divorced mother is obsessed with the idea that her ex-husband is plotting to take her baby away from her.

fickle bickle

Stephen Ward, director / USA / 10:45 minutes

Left alone in a magnificent mansion after the forgetful owner goes on vacation, a plumber contacts his high school crush, knowing she’s always been a “gold-digger.”

hope dies last

Ben Price, director / United Kingdom / 7:43 minutes

During World War II, a prisoner working as a barber for the Nazis fears every haircut may be his last.

perfect day

Ignacio Redondo, director / Spain / 10:45 minutes

With a $10 million business deal set to close and a date, David figures today will be the best day of his life. Not quite.

just go!

Pavel Gumennikov, director / Latvia / 10:45 minutes
A young man who lost both his legs in a childhood accident comes to the rescue of the girl he loves when she is victimized by villains.

mare nostrum

Rana Kazkaz & Anas Khalaf, directors / Syria / 13:00 minutes
On a Mediterranean shore, a Syrian father’s decision to give his daughter a better life puts her in danger of losing it.

viola, franca

Marta Savina, director / Italy /15:00 minutes
Sicily, 1965. Franca is being forced to marry her rapist to avoid becoming a pariah in her traditionalist community, but she rebels against the established custom.

IN A NUTSHELL
Fabio Friedli, director / Switzerland / 5:00 minutes
Love, war, and the myriad states of humanity and the world condense into a visual summation that’s a treat for the eyes.
8 minutes

Gega Khmaladze, director / Georgia / 12:40 minutes
With the end of the world fast approaching, an aging magician realizes one last feat of magic is required of him.
 

Des Moines Art Center

Recognized by international art critics as a world-class museum in the heart of the Midwest, the
Des Moines Art Center has amassed an important collection with a major emphasis on contemporary art. The collection’s overriding principle is a representation of artists from the nineteenth century to the present, each through a seminal work. This accounts for an impressive collection that ranges from Edward Hopper’s Automat to Jasper Johns’ Tennyson, Henri Matisse’s Woman in White, Georgia O’Keeffe’s From the Lake No. 1, Francis Bacon’s Study after Velásquez’s Portrait of Pope Innocent X, Bill Viola’s Ascension, and Cecily Brown’s Half-Bind.

The Art Center’s physical complex marries with the collection for a totally integrated experience. The collection is housed in three major buildings, each designed by a world-renowned architect – Eliel Saarinen, I. M. Pei, and Richard Meier. With the exception of special events, admission to the museum is free.

In September 2009, the John and Mary Pappajohn Sculpture Park opened in Des Moines’ Western Gateway Park. Philanthropists John and Mary Pappajohn have provided funding for and donated 28 sculptures by internationally acclaimed contemporary artists to the Des Moines Art Center. The collection of sculptures by such artists as Louise Bourgeois, Deborah Butterfield, Willem de Kooning, Olafur Eliasson, Keith Haring, Ellsworth Kelly, Jaume Plensa, Richard Serra, Joel Shapiro, and Mark
di Suvero, is the most significant donation of artwork to the Art Center in a single gift in the museum’s history. The Pappajohn Sculpture Park is a collaboration of the Pappajohns, the City of Des Moines, the Des Moines Art Center, and numerous corporate and private donors.