NEW BOY from Ireland's Stephanie Green was the overwhelming favorite of Enzian's audience this week at the exclusive Central Florida screening of the 11th annual Manhattan Short Film Festival. One of only three locations statewide to carry the 12-film collection (Jacksonville and Key West being the others), this year's program was selected from over 400 entries from 42 countries and will end up screening in 115 cities in four continents by the end of the week. The Irish film about an African immigrant boy's first day of school in Ireland lapped the field here in the Orlando area, with Paul Gowers' RIPPLE from the UK and Signe Baumane's TEAT BEAT OF SEX (Episodes #8-11, USA)--which had its North American premiere at the Florida Film Festival in April and won the Grand Jury Award for Best Animated Short--receiving the second and third most votes.

The final votes will be tallied after the last screening this Sunday, September 28, so if you're curious about which one will be the most popular short in the program worldwide, check out the website at www.msfilmfest.com late Sunday night or Monday. In the meantime, if you still have a shot at seeing this terrific collection of short films from around the globe, by all means make the effort--you'll be glad you did (and remember to vote!)

--Matthew