Asbury History

Founded in 1979/1980. Original site of Show: A Long Island church basement, near Asbury Avenue in Westbury. Then moved to the spacious Haft Auditorium in midtown Manhattan. The show is staffed by film and entertainment professionals volunteering their time. The Asbury Short Film Show is dedicated to the vision of independent short filmmakining and sharing those visions on the big screen.

The Asbury/Manhattan Audience

Audience size has increased every year of the show’s existence. Now over 1,000 people attend each year. Asbury audience includes professional filmmakers, celebrities, producers, directors, critics, theatergoers, film distributors and others in the film industry — plus hundreds of “civilians” who just love great film art.

The Films

As many as two hundred films are submitted to the Chow for consideration each year. Approximately two dozen will ultimately be selected for exposition. Originally, all films needed to be originated in 16mm or 35mm film. Recently, Asbury has been accepting "films" which have been shot on video. A true sign of the times. "Projects must be under 25 minutes in length to be eligible.

Films have been entered from around the world, and films from Sweden, Germany, Canada and other countries have been shown at the show. Asbury strives to show a mix of drama, comedy, animation, documentary and experimental filmmaking at each screening.