Tbilisi joins global screenings of Manhattan Short film fest finalists

Cinema-goers in Georgia's capital Tbilisi join their counterparts in more than 400 cities around the world in watching and voting for a winning entry among Manhattan Short film festival finalists this week.

At the downtown cinema theatre Amirani, 10 finalist works have been screening since Monday, as the city becomes a part of "the world's first global film festival" for the first time.

With the event Tbilisi is alongside cities in the United States, Australia, Canada, India, South Africa, Central and South America and over a dozen countries in Europe.

The finalist selection, announced in August, features films by directors from the US, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Iran and Finland.

The full selection is as follows:

• Nefta Football Club, directed by Yves Piat
• Debris, directed by Julio Ramos
• Driving Lessons, directed by Marziyeh Riahi
• Tipped, directed by Alysse Leite-Rogers
• Sylvia, directed by Richard Prendergast
• The Match, directed by Pia Andell
• Malou, directed by Adi Wojaczek
• This Time Away, directed by Magali Barbe
• A Family Affair, directed by Florence Keith-Roach
• At the End of the World, directed by Fon Davis

Attendees of the screenings vote for Best Film and Best Actor awards at each cinema venue, with over 100,000 votes expected in just over a week of screenings.

The results coming in for the 22nd edition of the festival will be counted before the winner is unveiled in October.

Short film 8 Minutes by Georgian filmmaker Giorgi Gogichaishvili claimed the principal award of the festival in 2017.