[1] Art is grand – art is magnificent! Truth (with a capital T) can be found in all forms, all shapes and sizes. There is a great appeal to epic works of art – Anna Karenina, one of my favorite books, comes up to between 800 and 1000 pages, depending on your edition. Another favorite, Infinite Jest, comes up to just about 1100. In the world of film, Peter Greenaway (one of the two greatest living film directors, in my opinion), made his feature debut with the three hour film The Falls. Genius director Sergio Leone's crime epic Once Upon a Time in America currently clocks in at 3 hours 49 minutes – and this is still an abridgment! A more completely restored version premiered at this year's Cannes Film Festival with a run time of 4 hours 5 minutes.
But Truth does not have to be epic. In both literature and film, very short works can have just as much an impact on the receiver – more, sometimes, because of the rapidity required to take it all in – like a quick jab in the face. I myself am currently in production of a short on my own – a meditation on good and evil, temptation, corruption, and the inherent weakness of humanity. (It probably won't be as impressive as it sounds.)
But, to the point: tomorrow, Tuesday, the Kentucky Center for the Arts will host the Manhattan Short Film Festival, which is being presented all around the world this week only. Louisville is one of the cities lucky enough to receive a screening, and attendees will be treated to ten shorts from such disparate climes as The Netherlands, Romania, and Russia.
The Kentucky Center is located at 501 W. Main Street. The festival will screen at 6:00 and 8:30. Tickets are $9.50 and available for purchase at the Kentucky Center online box office [3]. Further information about the festival and all the films to be screened can be found at the Manhattan Short Film Festival website [4].
Image: Manhattan Shorts website