Twelve teams of emerging Tasmanian filmmakers are showcasing short films created from scratch in just 48 hours at a Hobart screening and awards night this weekend.
The Apple Box Studio 48hr Short Film Competition will showcase all 12 entries at the Studio Theatre at the Theatre Royal in Hobart, with a livestream event held at Launceston’s Newstead Tennis and Squash Centre.
Competition founder Emma Wilson said the event had grown significantly in its second year, increasing from eight teams to 12, with participant numbers growing from 62 to 67 crew members and 25 actors.
Teams were given a mystery filmmaking brief at 6pm last Friday and had until 6pm on Sunday to write, shoot, edit and upload their films.
“This year’s theme is CHANGE, so we changed the brief too,” Wilson said.
“Every team was given a mystery prop and a character trait to work into their short, along with a line of dialogue from a well-known film, however this year we picked a different iconic Australian film for each team.”
Wilson said the competition was created to support emerging filmmakers, with most participants aged between 18 and 30.
Some more experienced filmmakers had joined teams to help m
entor younger members.
Several participants had completed the screen and media course at TasTAFE’s Rosny campus, which Wilson said made the event especially meaningful given the course faced uncertainty last year.
“If we don’t support emerging filmmakers, we’re not gonna have established filmmakers,” she said.
Wilson said she was amazed by the quality of entries, even from teams making their first film.
“I was blown away by the quality of the storytelling and the creativity,” she said.
“It was just quite staggering, actually.”
The inaugural event last year drew around 150 people across the Hobart and Launceston venues.
Wilson said livestreaming to Launceston meant filmmakers did not have to travel to take part.
“I don’t want cost to be a barrier to people taking part in that,” she said.
Award winners will receive trophies, certificates and prizes donated by local businesses including TasCasting, Tasmanian Occasion Hampers and the Hobart Book Shop.
