A global film event is coming to Central Otago - all the way from New York City.
About 10 short films, selected as finalists from 678 entries in the Manhattan Short Film Festival, will be shown at Central Cinema in Alexandra early next month.
Cinephiles will get the chance to watch the films and vote for their favourite film and actor, alongside 100,000 other film-goers around the world.
Central Cinema film committee member Loretta Bush said she first took part in the festival in 2009 when she lived in England, and thought it would be a good opportunity for residents to get involved.
''It's quite cool to be voting for them and it's all around the world.''
Although the film festival was based in New York, it was a global event with 250 cities from 52 countries taking part, she said.
''It's a first for New Zealand.''
The films were of varying lengths and genres, but it would take about two hours to get through them.
There were two sessions - Saturday, October 3 at 7.30pm, and October 4 at 5pm. All films had an M classification: 15 years and over.
The finalist films came from Germany, France, Denmark, the United States, Turkey, Kosovo, Chile and Finland.
It was hoped the short film viewings at Central Cinema would turn into an annual event, she said.
Now in its 18th year, the short film festival began on a New York street in 1998, showing movies on the side of a truck to an audience of 300, but had since grown.
There were 40 tickets available for each session, at the same price as a general movie admission, and bookings were recommended.
