Creations with constraints

By Lyndsie Kiebert-Carey
Reader Staff

Each year since 2004, teams of filmmakers across Idaho have competed in the Boise-based i48 Film Competition and Festival, during which they are tasked with creating an original short film — three to six minutes long — in fewer than 48 hours. 

i48 Co-Director Andrew Ellis presents at the festival’s 2022 awards ceremony at the Egyptian Theatre in Boise. Courtesy photo.

From writing to casting to editing, these films are made from scratch and must incorporate four elements disclosed to filmmakers only upon the start of the 48-hour window, including a genre, character, prop and a line of dialogue.

Resulting films are then shown a week later at downtown Boise movie theater The Flicks, and award-winning projects are shown again at the nearby historic Egyptian Theatre.

“I am amazed year to year by the creativity, ingenuity and filmmaking skill that it takes to come up with a story, write a script, cast the actors, find the locations, find costumes, build props, shoot the movie, and edit and score the films all in 48 hours,” i48 Co-Director Andrew Ellis told the Reader. “The films and shows we watch at the cineplex or on TV take years to develop, produce, shoot and post-produce. The i48 teams have no such luxuries, and it’s just simply amazing at what they come up with given the constraints of the competition.”

North Idahoans will have the chance to see what the 2022 i48 competitors came up with when this year’s “Best of i48” lineup screens Saturday, Sept. 17 at 7 p.m. and Sunday, Sept. 18 at 2:30 p.m. at the Panida Theater. 

Each showing will feature the 14 films that garnered awards in 2022, and marks the first time that a complete lineup of i48 films has been shown outside of Boise.

Organizers stated that “i48 has two self-selecting levels of competition: the Novice Division for those filmmakers just starting out, and the Open Division for filmmakers with more experience.” In 2022, Novice Division competitors were required to include a collector character named Robert or Roberta Cardoza, a jai alai toy as a prop and the line of dialogue, “Do you think this is a game?” Filmmakers in the Open Division had to feature a fabricator character named Miles or Millie Delaney, a baby pacifier and the line of dialogue, “Want to think it over?”

Genres for this year’s competition varied from mystery to comedy to sports film.

“These are amateur films — some of them made by teams making a movie for the first time ever — so the audience should set their expectations appropriately,” Ellis said, “but I think they will come away impressed and amazed by what the teams accomplished in 48 hours.”

Tickets for adults are $12 in advance and $15 at the door. Youth tickets are $8. Ticket prices apply to both Saturday and Sunday showings, with proceeds benefiting the Panida Century Fund. Doors open half an hour before the show.

Learn more about the i48 Film Competition and Festival at idaho48.org. Purchase tickets online at panida.org.