Coolidge Shorts Film Festival

[From The Coolidge Corner Theatre...]

The Coolidge Corner Theatre in Brookline, MA is launching a new initiative to support established, emerging, and student filmmakers internationally. The Coolidge Shorts Film Festival is a year-round program in which four short films (5 minutes and under) will be selected each month to screen before feature films. All genres will be considered including live action, animation, and experimental. This is a unique opportunity for filmmakers to showcase their work before the Coolidge’s monthly audience base of 16,000 patrons in the Greater Boston area.

"In our commitment to showcase short films created by emerging and established artists, the Coolidge proudly continues the historic role of movie houses," says Coolidge Corner Theatre Associate Director Elizabeth Taylor-Mead. "The very earliest cinema programming in the United States appealed to mass audiences. In those early days of film exhibition audiences were treated to not only a feature film, but also 'short subject' films."

"A selection of live action, animated cartoons, and/or newsreels preceded the main show - reinforcing the reputation of motion pictures as 'the democratic art.' Today, technology allows us to cast our net as wide as possible in search of outstanding programming and then engage our audiences in the conversation. It's exciting for us to both honor the past and bring it with us into the future."

To submit a short film to The Coolidge Shorts Film Festival and for more details, visit www.coolidge.org/shorts. Bi-annual submissions will occur in August and February. The first submission period runs August 10-September 25, 2009 (postmark-by date). Four films will screen each month. For questions, please email shorts@coolidge.com.