By TANIA PHILLIPS
WHEN former Sydney-sider Nicholas Mason bought a share of racehorse Praise Indeed little did he know that it would lead him to host a movie festival that is now seen in 300 cities across six continents.
The 16th annual Manhattan Short Film Festival allows viewers, from the US to our own Tenterfield, to watch and vote on the next generation of filmmakers from around the world – including one Shift from Sydney-based set-builder turned film-maker James Croke.
Croke wrote and directed this 10-minute heist cum science fiction film which has now made the final against films from around the world.
And all this is possible, thanks to a win in the Brisbane Cup by Praise Indeed in 1998.
It was that win that allowed Nicholas Mason to project 16 short films onto a screen mounted to the side of a truck on Mulberry Street in Little Italy (NYC) – his winnings from his sixth share in the horse allowed the former actor to pay for the screen at that first showing.
A year later, Mason moved the festival to Union Square Park (NYC), and the films were judged by a celebrity panel that included Susan Sarandon, Tim Robbins, Roger Corman, Eric Stoltz, and Laura Linney, to mention a few. But it was events after the festival was held in Union Square Park on 23 September 23 2001, just 12 days after 9/11, that transformed this film festival into the global phenomenon it is today.
Mason was asked by the then NYC Parks Commissioner, Henry Stern, on 15 September, that no matter what, he must go ahead with his film festival as planned. The park had become a shrine and a place of healing for those who had lost loved ones in the attacks, and was one of the global press centres with news crews and satellite trucks covering New York City at the time.
“It’s a city rule that all city parks must be closed by 10pm, but people just would not go home, they were sleeping there over night and no one could police it,” Mason said.
“They wanted to move the park forward, move the park on, I had a feeling that certain city officials were scared that if another attack was to happen, then Union Square Park was a pretty good target for that. So, they asked me to go ahead with it and that’s what we did,” added Mason.
Twelve short films from 10 countries screened to this audience, with each film and filmmaker gaining press attention on their local news channels back in their home countries, and gaining a lot of attention for the film festival.
“When I watched all the film entries the years after 2001, they were more revealing to how the world was feeling at that time to, say, watching the BBC or NBC news. That’s why the idea of sharing these films with a larger audience came to me,” added Mason.
In 2004, Mason contacted cinemas across the United States, asking them if they would like to screen his film festival. That year had seven cinemas in seven states and seven shows in one week. They also moved away from the celebrity judges and asked the audiences to judge the films. Audiences at each venue where allowed one vote, with votes being sent through to NYC where Mason announced the winner.
In 2006, Mason went to Krakow and found the closest cinema to Auschwitz as a starting point and that year it was the first film festival to be held simultaneously on two continents.
“At that time, I had so much feedback from audiences and filmmakers talking about wars, and to me, Auschwitz was a very symbolic choice for a starting point at that time. Short filmmakers are incredibly quick at responding to current events, in their own countries and cultures, and as a result, the festival has become quick to respond too.”
2 October Manhattan Film Festival
At the Tenterfield cinema. 6.30pm wine and nibbles plus a series of short films from 7pm. Vote for your favourite short film. $20 adults. Tickets at the door.
