Every year, the 48-Hour Film Project Filmapalooza is one of my favorite parts of Cinequest. This year, we were treated to nearly eight hours of short films in a series of four screenings. The project is straightforward: teams of filmmakers gather in cities around the world (last year’s project took place in over 50 cities worldwide). They are randomly assigned a genre, a prop, a line of dialog, and a character (both name and profession). Then the clock starts – within 48 hours, they must return with a completed short film. The winning film of each city is sent to Filmapalooza, where the overall winner is chosen.
This year’s batch of films had some wonderful inclusions. San Jose’s regional winner, “The Spy Who Spied Me,” was an over-the-top mockery of the spy genre. Philadelphia’s “Science: The Musical” (yes, some brave folks choose to do a musical when they draw the musical/western option) included zombie Abe Lincoln and was charming in its insanity. Nashville’s educational film parody “Electricity: Unplugging the Myth” offered a new take on just what is going on behind our electrical sockets. St. Louis’ “Franz Kafka: The Happiest Man In Happy Town” told the true story behind Kafka’s masterpiece. Louisville’s “Phenomenal Me” offered an unusual sort of superhero working hard to save the day. Utrecht’s quietly menacing “Souvenir” was a top-notch take on its required elements. The sweet “Monkton Family Christmas” from Miami showed how sometimes white lies are necessary to save Christmas. The winner of the Second Life machinima competition, “Zombie Attack,” gave us a twist on the zombie genre and was made entirely in the popular computer game Second Life. Tel Aviv’s “TimeCatcher,” a moving story about a young man who can see exactly how long all living things have left before they die, cleaned up the awards, winning Best Film, Best Directing, Best Script, and Best Editing. The quiet, somewhat surreal “Room 303” from Amsterdam won Best Cinematography. All in all, a great collection. I’m already looking forward to next year’s Filmapalooza, which will include shorts from Mumbai and Singapore.
Official Site: www.48hourfilm.com