Short and sweet works well for New York's flirty dozen

April 24, 2008 The format, long-celebrated in Europe, is finding a new home stateside thanks to Emmanuel Benbihy's "Cities of Love" short films-turned-feature franchise, which is in the process of wrapping preliminary shooting on its next installment, "New York, I Love You," in the city that never sleeps. The film, a sort of menage-a-twelve of a dozen short films shot by different directors with a cast list ripped from the VIP section of the yellow pages, might just be changing the filmmaking landscape in this new era of both shorter consumer attention spans and shorter gaps in big stars' filming schedules. The directors film their individual five- to six-minute shorts for two days, then turn their talent -- think Natalie Portman, Kevin Bacon, Orlando Bloom, recent addition Andy Garcia, Julie Christie, Ethan Hawke and other famous friends -- over to a director of transitions who shoots for a third day with the same actors.

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