Under the project's rules, individuals or teams have to make a four to seven minute short film from start to finish within 48 hours. This year's competition began at 7 pm on Friday, October 14, and the completed films must be delivered by 7:30 pm on Sunday, October 16.
The contest will be held in Ho Chi Minh City from November 4-6.
Each team is assigned a character, prop, and line of dialogue that must appear in their film. The team leaders randomly draw a genre for their film, ranging from romance, silent movie, or comedy, to thriller, action film and science fiction. This avoids too many overlaps and diversifies the content of the entries.
The team must then outline their idea, develop the story, cast, shoot, edit, and create a musical score then send their completed work to the organising board, all within a mere 48 hours.
The contest first came to Vietnam in 2010, hosted in Ho Chi Minh City to encourage and promote the country’s independent film community.
“40 entries were sent to the organising board last year. This year, with the inclusion of Hanoi for the first time, we hope that number will rise to almost 100”, said Ross Stewart, producer of the 48HFP in Vietnam.
“We challenge the filmmakers not only with the tight deadline, but also in their teamwork. The tight 48-hour deadline puts the focus squarely on the filmmaking, emphasising creativity and talent and “doing” instead of “talking”, he added
The opening ceremony was also attended by the ‘57 Bananas’ film crew, which won three major prizes including ‘Best Actor’, ‘Best Director’ and ‘Best Use of Character’ in last year’s contest.
“As it was really challenging to make a film in just 48 hours, we had to race with time to accomplish our mission. We are very glad that Hanoi is also hosting the event this year and it is such good news for filmmakers in the capital,” said Nhu Ngoc Mai, a 57 Bananas team member.
Entries will be judged by a panel including Vietnamese directors Nguyen Quang Dung, Nguyen Vinh Son and Phan Dang Di and the internationally acclaimed film director Phillip Noyce.
On a video sent from his house in Hollywood, USA, director Noyce said: “I have spent a lot of time in Vietnam to get to know Vietnamese film industry. It is my honour to join the organising board and I am eager to spot and discover filmmakers who are waiting to be recognised.”
The world-renowned director also gave some advice to the contestants. “Forty eight hours is not a very long time to produce a film. If I have some words for you, remember no matter how good your story, casting and acting is, the most important step is editing. So make sure you leave enough time for it, to gather all your materials, put them together and make them work.”
All successfully completed films will be screened at Megastar Cinemas from November 7-9 in Hanoi and from December 7-9 in Ho Chi Minh City.
An awards ceremony will be held at the end of November. The Best Film will be then screened at the international 48HFP Filmapalooza festival. The Grand Prize winner will be shown at the Cannes Film Festival in France, presenting Vietnamese creativity to the world.
Since it was launched in 2001 in Washington, D.C. by filmmakers Mark Ruppert and Liz Langston, the 48 Hour Film Project has attracted 130,000 participants who made nearly 9,000 short films. Last year, a record 45,000 filmmakers in 84 cities made 3,500 films.
