Movie madness: Seoul’s 48-hour Film Project

Team Sprezzatura shoots “The Bad News Bearer” in 2008 in Washington, DC.

November 5, 2010 marks the second anniversary of the Seoul 48-hour Film Project, a fast-paced film competition designed to inspire people in the film community, both amateur and professional, South Korean and expat, to work together and make short films in just two days.

From November 5-7, an expected 200 participants working in groups will have 48 hours to write, shoot, edit and submit their completed films. This is Seoul’s second time hosting the event but it’s a big project around the world — last year a total of 76 cities hosted the film project and over 40,000 people took part in this unique, sleepless weekend of creative mayhem.

Beginnings of a competition

The film project first began in Washington, DC just 10 years ago and has blossomed into the world’s largest timed filmmaking competition.

People from all over the world can participate in this unique movie-making opportunity. The 48-hour project works as a tool to get people ‘doing’ instead of just talking.

The 48-hour film festival is the role model of inspiration for those that have a head full of ideas but lack the resources and motivation to execute them.

It gives people the necessary support such as equipment resource information, talent, pressure and encouragement to get the job done.

“It forces you into doing something and finishing it,” says project administrator Sun-Ho, who recently completed a feature length film that will be submitted to film festivals throughout South Korea and America. “For me, it’s a lot of work to create an entire project. But when there’s a time constraint and there’s people working with you to get something done, than it’s fun and it pushes you to your creative limits.”

Last year a meager 14 groups of mostly expats participated in Seoul’s 48-hour project with only one all-Korean group.

Jack Park, producer of Seoul’s 48-hour film festival, expects a larger turnout this year and also hopes to reach out to the South Korean filmmaking community. The competition is taking place in South Korea, after all.

A unique team challenge

Sarah Jung, a South Korean-American from California who is helping organize the event, understands the importance of working together to accomplish something while also having fun. “The film festival isn’t just a competition. It’s a way to get expats connecting with the Korean community and vice-versa,” she says.

The organizers will host two meet-and-greets to help connect people with pre-registered groups. The first meet and greet was held on Saturday, October 23, and was a kind of job fair.

There is very unique and specific challenge to the 48-hour film festival. Each participating group’s film must not only be completed in 48 hours but should include a specific prop, character and line of dialog that will be announced at the kick-off on Friday, November 5 at 7 p.m.

The competition ends on that Sunday at 7 p.m. at which point the final films must be submitted to the judges with a premiere screening of all the films taking place the following week at Broadway Cinema near Sinsa Station on the Seoul Subway. (The theater seats 200 and is easy to find from the station.)

Each film will be judged for creative merit and technical ability. The winning film will receive a 1,000,000 won gift certificate for Han Rental, a camera and video rental shop in Gangnam, and the film will be screened at a film festival in Las Vegas.

The top 10 films from all of the participating cities will be screened at the Cannes Film Festival. “The project gives people a taste of what filmmaking is without the huge investment,” says Sun-oh.

Think you have what it takes? Sign up at www.48hourfilm.com/seoul or call Sun-Ho for more information +82 (0)10 5055 7883.

More information:

• Saturday, October 30: Second meet-and-greet
• Friday, November 5: Festival kickoff at 6 p.m.
• Wednesday, November 10 to 11: Premiere screening
• *Registration: 125,000 Won