Nine finalists have been selected for the fourth annual Short Film contest sponsored by the Martha’s Vineyard International Film Festival. Festival director, and Martha’s Vineyard Film Society founder, Richard Paradise says over 300 entries were submitted this year to the contest. There is a cash prize of $500 for the maker of the winning film, which will be announced the evening of Friday, September 6, following a showcase screening of all the finalists. The winning film will also be screened on Closing Night.

This year’s nine finalists include shorts from the UK, Israel, Australia, Ireland, Syria, and the United States.

The finalists include:

“HEAD OVER HEELS,” an animated film from the UK that was nominated for Best Animated Short at the 2013 Oscars;

“JUST PASSING BY,” a short doc made up of impromptu interviews in New York City;

“THE OP SHOP,” an Australian comedy set in a charity store;

“THE ROAD TO TEL-AVIV,” a tense Israeli film, winner of the Best Student Short at the New York Short Film Festival;

“BIRD FOOD,” animated Irish short about a man who has trouble with some pesky, hungry birds in a park;

“NOT ANYMORE,” the story of the Syrian revolution as told through the experiences of two young Syrians, a male rebel fighter and a female journalist, as they fight an oppressive regime for the freedom of their people.

“EVERY TUESDAY,” A US film about four New Yorker cartoonists;

“BORN YESTERDAY,” US film centers on a life lived in a single day;

“SLEIGHT OF HAND,” fanciful Australian stop-motion film about illusions.