Super fun night screening this year’s 48hr Film Challenge Films! Representatives from all 14 films were in attendance and it was awesome hearing their stories during the Q&A. Thank you as always to Aksarben ACX Cinemas for hosting and for their incredible staff that supports us and thank you to FiberFirst for providing prize packs for each of the filmmakers. Congratulations to all of the teams and thank you to our volunteers that helped run the evening.
The 48hr Film Challenge prizes go to:
Best Film $500
Winner: Doggone directed by Mike Ehrhart
Runner-up: I’m Not Here directed by Ben Kadaffi
Honorable Mention: Room 444 directed by Richard Reese
Best Use of Prop: Aluminum Foil $250
Winner: Mo Money Mo Problems directed by Mike Cavenaugh
Runner-up: METAllurgy directed by Bethany DeCarolis
Honorable Mention: Doggone directed by Mike Ehrhart
Best Use of Line of Dialogue “we should probably double check that” $250
Winner: The Truther directed by Marcel Howard Jr.
Runner-up: The World is Yours directed by Tomas Antonio
Honorable Mention: I’m Not Here directed by Ben Kadaffi
Honorable Mention: Foiled Hope directed by Brandon Fiscus
Best Cinematography – Prize Pack
Winner: Doggone directed by Mike Ehrhart
Runner-up: I’m Not Here directed by Ben Kadaffi
Honorable Mention: The Truther directed by Marcel Howard Jr.
Honorable Mention: Tin Man directed by Malachi Kerr
Honorable Mention: The World is Yours directed by Tomas Antonio
Honorable Mention: Room 444 directed by Richard Reese
Best use of character name Rachel – Prize Pack
Winner: The Truther directed by Marcel Howard Jr.
Runner-up: METAllurgy directed by Bethany DeCarolis
Honorable Mention: I’m Not Here directed by Ben Kadaffi
Honorable Mention: Stirring the Pot directed by Ken Moreno, Mickey Moore, MJ Peters
And to all of this year’s participating filmmakers… you’re all winners!


The 48hr Film Challenge Film Screening and Awards Presentation will be held on Thursday, September 19th at 6:30pm at the Aksarben Cinema.
Admission is only $10 so come out and cheer on your favorite film! (No advance or online ticket sales. Tickets sold at the door a half hour prior to show)
After the screenings we’re looking forward to a Q&A session with each of the filmmakers to hear their trials and tribulations during their 48 hours of filmmaking!
After the Q&A we’ll give out awards in both the student and non-student categories to the following:
Best Film
1st Runner Up
2nd Runner Up
Best Cinematography
Most Creative Use of Required Prop
Most Creative Use of Required Line of Dialogue
Thank you to our friends at FiberFirst for providing $1500 for prizes for this year’s filmmakers and to CW/Fox42 for providing swag for our attending filmmaker gift bags!
Thursday’s screening order:
Echoes of the Past directed by Bryton Bower – drama
Following Aunt Heather directed by William Fischer – drama
Foiled Hope directed by Brandon Fiscus – drama
METAllurgy directed by Bethany DeCarolis – comedy
The Documenting of a Trainwreck directed by Kevin Mohr and Jameel Whitlock – comedy
I’m Not Here directed by Ben Kadaffi – drama
The World is Yours directed by Tomas Antonio – comedy
Final Moment directed by Lavetti Vegas – drama
The Truther directed by Marcel Howard Jr. – comedy
Stirring the Pot directed by Ken Moreno, Mickey Moore, MJ Peters – drama
Tin Man directed by Malachi Kerr – drama
Doggone directed by Mike Ehrhart – comedy
Mo Money Mo Problems directed by Mike Cavenaugh – comedy
Room 444 directed by Richard Reese – thriller

Looking forward to seeing everyone!


Ladies and Gentlemen, start your cameras! The Omaha Film Festival is hosting a 48 Hour Film Challenge to spark creativity and collaboration among local creatives. Participants will be given 48 hours to write, shoot, edit, and deliver a film under 5 minutes in length (including credits).

The 48 Hour Challenge will commence on Friday, September 6th at 7:00pm on Facebook Live on the Omaha Film Festival’s Facebook page.

Announcements for the rules will be made starting at 7:00pm and genres for qualifying teams will be drawn shortly thereafter!

Films will be due back before Sunday, September 8th at 7:00pm.

Final delivery to be an H.264 file sent to omahafilmfestival@gmail.com via a password protected (downloadable) Vimeo link, Dropbox, Google Drive, etc.

All films will be screened at the Aksarben Cinema on Thursday, September 19th.

Filmmakers can register for the 48hr Challenge at
https://form.123formbuilder.com/…/2024-48hr-film-challenge

Entry form and fee deadline is Friday, September 6th at 6:00pm
Pre-registration is $60 per team or $40 for high school teams. The name used to register is the name we’ll call when picking the genres. Only one registration form per team required. To register complete this form and make your payment at the link below:

Open category payment link:
https://tinyurl.com/2024OFF48
High school student link:
https://tinyurl.com/2024OFF48s
Or hit us up on Venmo @omahafilmfestival

Here’s how it works:
Start putting your team together now. Actors, writers, filmmakers … get ready. For participating teams, fill out the online registration form and send your entry fee to be qualified and be watching on Facebook live as we announce the following required challenges:
1. We will announce a LINE OF DIALOGUE that will have to be in every film.
2. We will announce a PROP that must be used in the film.
3. We will randomly draw GENRES from a hat for each team that your film must adhere to.

There’s no age limit on the filmmakers and let’s keep our content under PG13 so a broader audience can enjoy the screenings.

After the screenings we will be announcing the winners for both the student and open categories for:
Most Creative Use of Required Prop
Most Creative Use of Required Line of Dialogue
Best Cinematography
Best Film

THE RULES
– Entry Fee must be paid at least one hour before the launch.
– Each entry must be a separate submission – you must include registration form and payment for each submission.
– Challenge Launch will commence at 7:00pm on Friday, September 6, virtually on the OFF Facebook page.
– You must complete all of the mandatory challenges (genre, line of dialogue, prop).
– All submissions must be an H.264 file sent to omahafilmfestival@gmail.com via a password protected (downloadable) Vimeo link, Dropbox, Google Drive, etc. The FILM INFORMATION FORM must also be emailed.
– Submissions must be received by 7:00pm on Sunday, September 8.
– All films that are not in English must have English language subtitles.
– Only submissions with completed REGISTRATION FORM, FILM INFORMATION FORM, and paid entry fees will be accepted.
– Films must be no longer than 5 minutes in length (including credits).
– To be eligible, the film cannot have a public screening locally prior to the Film Challenge Screening date. We ask that your film not be viewable in its entirety online on sites like YouTube, Vimeo, or Facebook before the Film Challenge Screening. Trailers or clips from the film are acceptable.
– Releases for locations, music, and talent must be obtained by the submitting filmmaker. The Omaha Film Festival is not liable for copyright infringement or unauthorized use.
#OFF2024248

Recommended Posts