The 48 Hour Film Project is a fast-paced weekend challenge in which teams compete to create the best short film in just 48 hours, using a set of required elements. Launched 25 years ago in Washington, D.C., the project now spans more than 100 cities worldwide. The first Vilnius edition took place this November, bringing together around 20 teams and creating plenty of new experiences.
The idea to bring the 48 Hour Film Project to Vilnius came from Nadzeya Ilkevich, a former participant who is now based in the city.
“For me, the 48 Hour Film Project is all about the experience and the community. Making a film usually takes a long time, but sometimes you want to use your creativity right away. It’s also a great way to test your team – many productions take part before moving on to bigger projects. And it’s a chance to join an exciting community, the ’48ers’. There are lots of students, people who have never touched the film industry, professional teams, and mixes of all kinds,” says N. Ilkevich, the City Producer.
The rules are simple but non-negotiable. Each film must be uploaded 48 hours after the start, and specific required elements are drawn at the very beginning – this ensures that every team develops their idea on the spot.
“Each team draws a genre – it could be a musical, horror, romance, road movie, zombie apocalypse or anything else. They also receive common elements that must be used without exception. In the Vilnius edition, competitors had to include a specific character, a prop, and even a line of dialogue. The best film from each city goes to the Filmapalooza festival, where all city winners compete for the global 48HFP awards — and the Best Film earns a chance to screen at the Cannes Film Festival Short Film Corner.
According to N. Ilkevich, Vilnius is a great city for the 48-hour challenge because of its compactness – for example, nature is very close to the city center, making it easy to move quickly and film all necessary scenes. She adds that, in the future, the project may expand to include additional activities, such as introductory filmmaking and screenwriting workshops.
This year’s best films were evaluated by a professional jury: Eva Sinicaitė, program director of the festival “Nepatogus kinas”, and directors Romas Zabarauskas and Arnas Balčiūnas.
The Best Film of 2025 award went to Crooked Rabbit. Their film ZOYA will represent Vilnius against other city winners from around the world at Filmapalooza 2026. “British team will represent Vilnius this year! Even though it was their first time in the city, they managed to meet local creators and now want to co-produce here,” N. Ilkevich explains.
“Stressful, but incredibly fun”, participants say
This year, teams from Lithuania, Latvia, Sweden, Poland, the UK, as well as Belarusian expats in Vilnius, and several other countries joined the competition. According to the participants, the project combines stress, fun, and unlimited creativity.
“I am Belarusian, currently studying in Vilnius. It is my first time directing a film, though not my first time in this type of project. It’s fun to create everything from scratch and give yourself such an experience. Filmmaking is my passion now, and I hope to become a professional one day,” says participant Mariya Kuznetsova.
“We were a tiny group, very passionate about filmmaking. And it was our first ever film. Vilnius helped a lot, since we filmed in the forests near Pūčkoriai outcrop. Our team brought together people from completely different countries – Brazil, Iran, Bangladesh and more,” says Armenian directing student Sofi Khachatryan.
Participants from Latvia emphasized the joy of quick results.
“It’s a lot of fun for the whole team. We were excited; it felt real. Everyone was really into it – you don’t always see that. It’s rare to see the results so fast, and this time it was already the next day, instead of waiting for years,” says Latvian director Dan Silov.
Others, on the other hand, joined the project unexpectedly.
“I ended up in the project by accident, when a team was looking for a cinematographer. For me it was great fun – I like thinking fast, here and now. It’s more enjoyable than shooting a film for a long period. There have been similar projects in Lithuania before, I tried them and really liked them,” says Robert Kovalevič.
More about the programme and future calls: https://www.48hourfilm.com/vilnius .
