Sisters is venue for international film festival

Manhattan Short Film Festival has announced the 10 finalists, representing nine countries, whose films will be judged by a worldwide audience. The 10 short films will be screened 532 times in 173 cities across five continents, September 20-27.

The festival is a showcase for new film directors, now in its 12th year.

This year's festival received 428 film entries from 36 countries, from which the 10 finalists were selected. Cinema goers in Albany, Salem and Sisters will be able to join with a global audience of over 100,000 film-lovers who will select the festival winner.

Sisters Movie House will show the films September 24-27. Times will be announced.

Audience members in each venue will be handed a voting card upon entering each cinema, that will allow them to cast their ballot for best film. Votes are sent to Manhattan Short headquarters, where the winner will be announced on Tuesday, September 29.

The finalists for 2009 are:

"The Boundary" (USA), Julius Onah; "A'Mare" (Italy), Martina Amati; "Love Child" (Sweden), Daniel Wirtberg; "Plastic" (Australia), Sandy Widyanata; "Mozambique" (Mozambique), Alcides Soares; "Miente" (Spain), Isabel De Ocampo; "Skhizein (France), Jérémy Clapin; "Lashabiya" (Israel), Yehezkel Lazarov; "Parking" (Spain), Jorge Molina; "Hammerhead (UK), Sam Donovan.

For more information visit http://www.msfilmfest.com.