The Redlands Cinema Classic hosted the 28th Annual Manhattan Short Film Festival at Harkins Theatre, drawing more than 160 attendees who voted on international short films tackling themes from family and grief to housing and hope.
Longtime educator and multi-sport official Dave Farmer, believed to be the nation’s oldest active high school referee, will be honored Oct. 21 in Long Beach for a lifetime dedicated to athletics, students, and community service.
The Redlands Cinema Classic hosted the 28th Annual Manhattan Short Film Festival at Harkins Theatre, drawing more than 160 attendees who voted on international short films tackling themes from family and grief to housing and hope.
Earlier this month, film lovers were invited to vote in the 28th Annual Manhattan Short Film Festival at Harkins Theatre in Redlands. The international film festival has been part of the Redlands Cinema Classic for the past five years.
“How many of you are attending this event for the first time?” asked Annette Weis, coordinator of the Redlands Cinema Classic. Roughly 20% of the room’s hands shot up.
Redlands Cinema Classic was founded in 1999 and raises funds for the Margaret Clark Art Education Enrichment Fund of the Redlands Art Association. The fund supports arts education programs in the Redlands Unified School District, in the community, and at the Youth Art Expo on Memorial Day weekend.
Weis reminded attendees to be ready to vote for best film and best actor at the end. In total, just over 160 people attended the two events.
April Cawthon of Banning attended for the first time three years ago. The following year, she brought her sister, Amanda Springsted of Yucaipa, and their mother, Jane Cason of Riverside. This year, all three were back.
“We are in love with this event,” Cawthon said. They were part of a larger group that attended. “I’m a hairdresser and have recommended five different clients to come too.”
“The choices for the shorts are super entertaining,” Springsted said. “We ended up talking about them for weeks afterward, and certain things became our little inside jokes.”
This year, Redlands Cinema Classic moved to Harkins Theatre, which meant the organization had to cater the event themselves. Refreshments were served at the halfway point, with 40 minutes to eat, drink and discuss the films.
The films addressed difficult topics such as sexual abuse (Chasing the Party, Beyond Silence and Em & Selma Go Griffin Hunting), stranded immigrants (Zodiac), and an impossible housing market (Al Fresco). Others explored family struggles (We Have Sinned Before You and I Have My Reasons), coping with tragedy (Paradise Man), and tension between a teen daughter and her mother (Passarinho). One of the 10 films offered comic relief, examining whether to have children (Ovary-Acting).
“The short films this year were excellent and dealt with many similar issues that we in America face in our everyday lives,” Weis said. “Some of them dealt with very sensitive female issues and family problems. I liked Beyond Silence, Al Fresco and We Have Sinned Before You.”
“It’s not my favorite year,” Cawthon said afterward. “But I love so many of them, and I love that it’s thought-provoking every single time.” Her sister, Springsted, agreed. “Very different this year,” she said with a laugh. “The thing I will remember is the strange acid trip they wanted to take us on with Paradise Man.”
“I loved Beyond Silence and I Have My Reasons. I thought both of them were very well done,” Cawthon said. “I loved the symbolism of the woman crying [in Beyond Silence] because something probably happened to her. It was very harsh—and harsh in the sense that it was heavy. It was so real life.”
All three said they would have loved to see more plot twists this year. And they weren’t at all in agreement about which movies and actors to vote for.
According to Redlands voters, the winning films were: gold to Passarinho, silver to We Have Sinned Before You and bronze to Beyond Silence. For best actor, Redlands chose Henrianna Jansen from Beyond Silence.
Redlands voters were not far off from international audiences. This year’s Manhattan Short Film Festival winners were gold to We Have Sinned Before You (Israel), silver to Passarinho (Mexico) and bronze to Beyond Silence (Netherlands). Best actor went to Jansen for Beyond Silence.
“You get to watch that many different storylines, so you really do walk away with a lot more to talk about,” Springsted said.
“We’ve all been involved in theater for decades, and you just have so much respect for the work that went in,” Cason said.
Adding the Manhattan Short Film Festival to the fall program has “become popular because they feature a whole new generation of filmmakers,” Weis said.
The Redlands Cinema Classic program has been well received at Harkins Theatre. Previously, the series took place at the LOOK Dine-In Cinema. “I am happy to state that Redlanders have become more and more enthused about watching good films, even more so foreign films,” Weis said. “This affords them an opportunity to view how others live in other parts of the world not unlike ourselves, and how we deal with family and everyday happenings.”
There are still three movies to watch with Redlands Cinema Classic this fall:
For the full program and ticket information, visit www.redlandscinemaclassic.com/cinema.
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