Filmmaking competition where teams write, shoot and edit a short film in 48 hours, with premiere screenings and an awards ceremony.
The 48 Hour Film Project returns to Aberdeen this November, and it's exactly as chaotic as it sounds. The whole thing kicks off at Siberia on Friday 6 November at 6:00 pm, where teams draw a genre and get a required character, prop and line of dialogue that every single film has to include. From that moment, the clock starts. You've got 48 hours to write, shoot and edit a short film, with the deadline falling on Sunday 8 November at 7:30 pm. Every team gets a custom challenge coin to mark the occasion.
It's billed as the world's largest filmmaking competition, and the scale carries through to the end. The films premiere at The Lemon Tree on Sunday 15 November, with two screenings: Group A at 4:00 pm and Group B at 7:30 pm. Audiences watch the films, vote for their favourites and meet the filmmakers at a Q&A, with prizes for audience members and an Audience Award among the honours. The awards ceremony follows at 9:30 pm that same night.
There's a decent prize on the line, too. The best film wins £1500 towards a trip to Filmapalooza 2027 in Curaçao, and that winner is eligible for a spot in the Cannes Film Festival Short Film Corner. City producers Sam Goldblatt and Louise E Knowles of deBlanc are running the show, with local sponsors Screen Scotland and BRAW, and partners including The Belmont, Siberia and Aberdeen Performing Arts.
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If you want to enter, a team entry is £78, though there was an early bird rate of £68 that ended on 13 October and a late entry of £88 that runs until 6 November. If you'd rather just watch, premiere screenings at The Lemon Tree are £11. The filming weekend runs from 6-8 November, with the kickoff at Siberia, 9 Belmont Street, AB10 1JR, and the screenings and awards at The Lemon Tree, 5 W N St, AB24 5AT.
