The work of area-wide filmmakers, who raced the clock to produce a short film for the 12th 48 Hour Film Project over the Aug. 27 weekend, will screen Sunday and Monday, Sept. 11-12, with awards presented Sept. 15, at the Music Box Theatre.
“This is a great opportunity for audiences to discover emerging filmmakers and to see the work of steadily-producing local indie filmmakers,” said director / editor Jerry Vasilatos, who has helmed the Chicago 48 Hour competition for the past two years.
“We had 52 participating teams and more newcomers this year than last. We also offered the filmmaking teams 30 different genres to choose from. Each team drew two genres from a hat, not knowing that’d get. Once they decided which of the two genres they wanted to write a script for, then all teams had to use the same three elements that the national Film Project had provided for all the cities participating,” he said.
Those elements were using the name “Ian or Iris Burrmon” for the main character, who had to be a treasurer of some sort; the prop was a cassette tape, either audio or video; and the line was “it can’t be that difficult,” or “it cannot be that difficult.”
All the submitted shorts will be showcased, in three blocks of films on Sunday, starting at 4:30 p.m, and two blocks on Monday, Sept. 12. See the schedule here.
During these screenings, the audience will vote on the Audience Choice Award, which will screen with winning films chosen by local 48 Hour judges at the Best of Chicago screening Thursday, Sept. 15.
The winning local film will compete with winners from around the world at Filmapalooza 2017 for a crack at the Grand Prize and screening at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival.
This year’s screening venue is the Music Box Theatre. “We’re very excited to be screening there,” said Vasilatos. “Last year we screened at the Logan Theatre, but because of its limited seating we had to turn people away, whereas the Music Box is a 750 seat auditorium.”
The audience will enter the theatre on a red carpet and are welcome to attend a post screening meet-and- mingle all three screening nights at the adjacent Music Box Lounge.
Tickets are a special $13 and may be purchased here.
