48Hours Film Competition!
Registration is open - Shoot Weekend 15 - 17 August
What is 48Hours?
The Vista Foundation 48Hours is NZ's largest guerrilla filmmaking competition! There is nothing quite like it. Over 10,000 short films have been produced in the 48Hours competition over the 22 years it has run.
Over 500 teams of filmmakers enter each year with just 48 hours to write, shoot and cut a film with a given genre and a collection of assigned elements. Filmmakers compete for awards in their regions, culminating in a grand final event where the national winner takes the title of Grand National Champion.
The Vista Foundation 48Hours aims to create a dynamic event that provides opportunities for emerging and established filmmakers to make short films in an environment that encourages innovation, creative risk-taking, and builds long term collaborations and community. We offer a screening opportunity and an enthusiastic inbuilt audience within the competition for teams to showcase their talent.
The competition is presented by the Vista Foundation, in association with Te Tuma Whakaata Taonga / New Zealand Film Commission. This will be the Vista Foundation’s sixth year as the naming sponsor of the competition. WingNut Films are our other main supporter, contributing a significant prize package to the national winner. We are lucky to have the support of these major organisations whose kaupapa are aligned with 48Hours, with a shared vision of supporting and growing filmmaking talent in Aotearoa.
How does it work?
It's very simple; filmmakers have just one weekend to make a short film.
Filmmakers don't know what genre (thriller/romance etc.) they will be shooting until the start of the competition. All creativity - writing, shooting, editing, a soundtrack, VFX and titles - occurs within the 48Hour window beginning Friday evening at 7pm and ending Sunday at 7pm. To add to the mayhem, teams must also include random assigned elements. In previous years, these elements have included lines of dialogue, props, characters and special camera moves. This year - who knows?
A couple of weeks later, the completed films are all screened in heats to eager audiences. The best films are selected by judges to compete in the regional finals, with winners awarded at the regional final.
National judges then select the best of the best, and along with Sir Peter Jackson's Wildcards, compete in a massive national grand final event, with fabulous prizes and much glory.
48Hours is a serious challenge for both first-time filmmakers through to experienced directors.
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Why?
Make a short film in 48 hours?! You'd have to be mad. Fortunately, temporary insanity is one thing this competition isn't lacking. We've been attracting movie maniacs since year one.
Apart from being a bit loopy, other reasons to compete in 48Hours include, getting to see your creation on the big screen with an enthusiastic audience, meeting fellow movie freaks and of course the chance to win fabulous prizes.
After the competition, you will have a completed film to add to your portfolio, and hopefully a band of eager collaborators excited to make the next one.
