72 Film Festival Set to Premiere 14th Year of Short Films

The festival will surpass 500 total films submitted this year.

Frederick, MD – 72 hours is not generally considered a long time to write, film and edit a short movie, but that’s exactly what 47 film teams did last weekend to participate in the 14th annual 72 Film Festival.

Actors, directors, camera operators and more attended the launch party last week and were each given a prompt to match the year’s theme of ‘”Help Wanted.”

Film teams were given randomly selected time cards which contained a specific occupation to be portrayed in the film. Occupations ranged anywhere from a cab driver to a politician.

“There’s a lot they need to take into consideration,” Film Fest co-host Doug Powell said. “Their task is to create a film in three days where the main character has an occupation and the central conflict of the film is based around that occupation.”

The short films ranging from 5 1/2 minutes to 7 1/2 minutes were submitted Sunday and will be judged by a panel of professional filmmakers including co-director of the Blair Witch Project, Eduardo Sanchez.

Powell said the festival brings in beginners, amateurs, and professional filmmakers from all over the area to compete for prizes and to have fun doing so.

“The 72 Fest is a homegrown thing, and you can feel it,” Powell said. “It really pulls together a lot of talented folks.”

All submitted films will be premiered at the Weinberg Center for the Arts this Friday at 6:30pm. Winning films will be premiered again on Saturday night at 7pm, and will have an awards ceremony featuring various prizes including hand-made trophies created by a local craftsman and professional audio/visual editing software.

Powell said the festival gives an outlet to people seeking ways to make creative content with their friends.

“I think it’s important to continue to try to take the time to do the thing that you love with the people that you love,” Powell said. “I think that’s largely what this festival does.”

Tickets and more information on the festival can be found at https://72fest.com/

By Timothy Young