This year I was lucky enough to attend the 48 Hour Film Project’s global Filmapalooza festival in Rotterdam, NL (about a week before Coronavirus shut down most travel between the US and Europe).
For those that don’t know the 48 Hour Film Project, the basic is that you write, shoot, and edit a movie within a single weekend (in under 48 hours)...the movies are then screened in a city-wide competition. It’s fun, madcap, and happens in over a hundred cities all around the world. Like one of my other favorite film festivals (The My Rode Reel festival), teams of all different national backgrounds, skill levels, and sizes compete, but this was my first time really getting to watch some 48 Hour Film shorts from around the globe. And man, I was blown away...here are a few of my favorites:
Scare by Coven Productions - Edinburgh 2019 48HFP
This brave little short has so much spirit and spunk. One of the things I’m so blown away by from the Filmapalooza 48 Hour shorts is how many of them managed to talk about real world issues in personal ways - in this case a pregnancy scare and women’s reproductive rights. Shifting from mysterious to hilarious to serious, Scare has a bold viewpoint and makes it well. It’s even more amazing than it looks at first, because Sarah Grant, the creator of the short, did almost all of it as a one woman team! Also, her acting during the ending completely blew me away, and it was the perfect final beat.
WATCH IT HERE: https://www.48hourfilm.com/en/edinburgh-gb/films/36999
Social Silence by Two Sense Films, Orlando 2019 48HFP
The colors, my God, the colors. This film literally (and I do mean literally, literally) oozes style. The cinematography, the music, the editing, all of it adds up to one of the slickest shorts I saw at Filmapalooza. I love the slow build of the mystery, the growing tension, and the way our worst fears are confirmed in the opening montage. Bonus points for the perfectly hatable hipster villain’s Patrick Bateman dance towards the end.
WATCH IT HERE: https://www.48hourfilm.com/en/orlando-fl/films/39207
Bi, không sợ nữa! by FGS(HCM), Ho Chi Minh 2019 48HFP
I think heart is one of the most important qualities an indie short can have - genuine empathy for the characters, exploring an issue that matters to us, that we can relate to, but getting us to relate to it in a new way. This short’s exploration of a kid trying to learn about sex from porn could have felt sketchy and icky, but instead I’m struck by how genuinely kind it is towards the main character’s journey. (I’m also a sucker for any short that starts with a shot of a dripping sink).
WATCH IT HERE: https://www.48hourfilm.com/ho-chi-minh-city-vn/films/39374
Keep by Afro Viking Pictures, Halifax 2019 49HFP
Right from the get-go, the old school 4 by 3 (I think, feel free to correct me in the comments!) aspect ratio lets you know this isn’t going to be a short like the others. It’s simple and yet at the same time quite complex, a quiet little story about a woman whose taken up hoarding. The set design is amazing, the acting excellent. One of the things that most impresses me about this short is how well the backstory is introduced in the fight between the siblings - I absolutely see how the stress of a parent’s death and being responsible for her brother brought the main character for this point.
WATCH IT HERE: https://www.48hourfilm.com/en/halifax-ca/films/41467
The Missing Car by Boomerang, Tirana 2019 48HFP
One of the things that annoys me most about gangster films is the violence. Not necessarily because I don’t like my movies violent (I can be the occasional gorehound), but because to me that’s not what makes gangsters scary in the real world. More often, it’s the unspoken threat of violence, setting terrifyingly ambiguous boundaries, forcing otherwise well intentioned individuals into complicit situations. The Missing Car does just that. One of the other things I love about it is the sense of these stories being far bigger than what we see in the short itself; from the more personal side of the main character preparing to propose to his girlfriend, to the sinister machinations of the criminal enterprise manipulating him.
WATCH IT HERE: https://www.48hourfilm.com/en/tirana-al/films/42290
Everything Rises by Mint Volcano - Taipei 2019 48HFP
I love a great high concept (but simple to understand) movie executed well, and I’m a fan of any short that can pair that with a great monologue and good music choices. The idea of one person moving forwards while another moves backwards is so simple to follow once you see it, and yet the technically mastery to make it happen still hard for me to wrap my head around. The scene where the main character walks down the street while everything else moves backwards is simply remarkable. But this short isn’t just about being technically great with a camera and editing skills - it also has a painful story of alienation, an inability to fit into the world as you are or as it is, and somehow making peace with all of that in a way that definitely got to me.
WATCH IT HERE: https://www.48hourfilm.com/zh-tw/taipei-tw/films/40582
These are my favorites from Filmapalooza 2020. I’d love to hear what you thought of them in the comment section below, or feel free to share other 48 Hour Film Projects that have spoken to you!