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2,09,276

Participants in last 13 years from over 43 countries

World's Largest Filmmaking Challenge.

Calling professional filmmakers, production houses, aspiring directors, filmmaking enthusiasts and students.

Films change the world, one story at a time and IFP challenges you to write, shoot and edit a film in 50 Hours.

50 Hour Filmmaking Challenge

DATES

50 Hour Challenge Begins

Aug 30, 2024, Friday, 8pm IST

50 Hour Challenge Ends

Sep 1, 2024, Sunday, 10pm IST

Top Nominee Announcement 

Sep 30, Monday (Across each category)

Awards Ceremony

Oct 13, Sunday, 5:30pm IST 

Last Day to Register is Aug 29, 2024, 11.59 PM

Read The Rules

CATEGORIES

PROFESSIONAL
Team leaders who have made more than 3 films and are willing to bring the skills to make a film in just 50 hours.

USD 42 / EUR 40 / INR 3500

AMATEUR
Filmmakers on their way to be professionals, love films and want to tell their story to the world, this category is for you.

USD 30 / EUR 28 / INR 2500

MOBILE HORIZONTAL
Gears don’t define you, get out with your mobile and show us your filmmaking skills.

 

USD 18 / EUR 17 / INR 1500

MOBILE VERTICAL
Tell us a story in this new age filmmaking style!


USD 18 / EUR 17 / INR 1500

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JURY

Amit Sharma

Devashish - Jury for 50 Hour Filmmaking Challenge at IFP

Devashish Makhija

Kabir Khan

Lijo Jose Pellisery - Jury for 50 Hour Filmmaking Challenge at IFP

Lijo Jose Pellisery

Sooni Taraporevala - Jury for 50 Hour Filmmaking Challenge at IFP

Sooni Taraporevala

Check out Previous Jury Members

CATEGORIES

PROFESSIONAL | Team leaders who have made more than 3 films and are willing to bring that professionalism to make a film in just 50 hours | USD 42 / EUR 39 / INR 3500

AMATEUR | Filmmakers on their way to be professionals, love films and want to tell their story to the world, this category is for you | USD 30 / EUR 28 / INR 2500

MOBILE HORIZONTAL | Gears don’t define you, get out with your mobile and show us your filmmaking skills. | USD 18 / EUR 17 / INR 1500

MOBILE VERTICAL | Tell us a story in this new age filmmaking style! Is it here to stay or not? Try it for yourself. | USD 18 / EUR 17 / INR 1500

PRIZES

IFP Trophy

Awards for Platinum, Gold, Silver, (Top 3) across each of the five categories.

'Best Use of AI' Award by Intel Core Ultra

An 'Intel Core Ultra' AI PC given for the best usage of AI across the 4 categories.

Jury Mentoring

One on one mentoring session with one Jury member.

Lifetime Free Entry

Legacy lifetime free entry to IFP 50 Hour Film Challenge

Subscription to Professional Software

3 Month Pro subscription for all winners

Showcase

Top 3 films from each category get screened at IFP season 14 Festival

PARTICIPATE & GET..

Online Workshop

Exclusive Online Workshop for participants with an industry expert on the first day of the challenge.

Subscription to Professional Software

1 Month Pro subscription for all participants

Discounted Pass to IFP Fest

Get discounted festival season pass for IFP Season 14 Festival

Certificate

E-certificate of Participation

Previous Winners

Watch the winning films from previous 13 years

Check 'em here

Find a Teammate

Click Here
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What previous participants love about 50 Hour Filmmaking Challenge

"We learned a lot through the difficulties and the challenges and we are thankful for it!"

Santanu Sarkar, Aspiring Filmmaker, Siliguri

"Whenever you participate in IFP’s challenges, you never go back empty handed. You always have learnings and experiences to take back."

Rohan Pendurkar, Filmmaker, Mumbai

"It was a whirlwind of ideas. It is only after you’ve completed the challenge, do you realise what an amazing experience it has been."

Rohit Mandal, Filmmaker & Theatre Artist, Lucknow

"The best thing we learned was improvisation and jugaad. We just thought that we’ll go out and have fun, and that was the best experience of the 50 Hours."

Ria Nalavade, Filmmaker & Actor, Mumbai

"You can brainstorm on 4 ideas and decide on a 5th one. That is the amazing thing that happens when you are put against a timeline."

Arundhati Agashe, Theatre Artists, Pune

"We learned a lot through the difficulties and the challenges and we are thankful for it!"

Santanu Sarkar, Aspiring Filmmaker, Siliguri

"Whenever you participate in IFP’s challenges, you never go back empty handed. You always have learnings and experiences to take back."

Rohan Pendurkar, Filmmaker, Mumbai

"It was a whirlwind of ideas. It is only after you’ve completed the challenge, do you realise what an amazing experience it has been."

Rohit Mandal, Filmmaker & Theatre Artist, Lucknow

"The best thing we learned was improvisation and jugaad. We just thought that we’ll go out and have fun, and that was the best experience of the 50 Hours."

Ria Nalavade, Filmmaker & Actor, Mumbai

"You can brainstorm on 4 ideas and decide on a 5th one. That is the amazing thing that happens when you are put against a timeline."

Arundhati Agashe, Theatre Artists, Pune

"We learned a lot through the difficulties and the challenges and we are thankful for it!"

Santanu Sarkar, Aspiring Filmmaker, Siliguri

Already Registered? Edit your Profile here

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Participation Rules

1. 50 Hour Filmmaking Challenge is open for participants from across the globe.

2. Filmmaking hours for IFP’s 50 Hour Filmmaking Challenge is scheduled to begin from Friday, Aug 30, 2024, 8pm IST to Sunday, Sep 01, 2024 10pm IST.

3. Participants need to submit their film by the upload link provided to the Team Leader. The upload link will be sent as soon as the challenge begins.

4. The entire film must be shot within the filmmaking period and the team needs to provide proof of the same as and when needed.

5. Duration of the Final film (Excluding End Credits): Professional, Amateur, Mobile (Horizontal): 4-6 Minutes, Mobile (Vertical): 2-3 Minutes.

6. Team members will get the theme online on IFP’s Instagram as well as on the registered Team Leader’s Email ID and Whatsapp.

7. Along with the theme, 5 to 7 different genres will be provided. Teams are free to choose any one genre. 

8. A compulsory element will be given to the team at the beginning of the challenge. It should not necessarily be the central part of the story but should be subtly included in it.

9. Film can be in any language of your comfort. All films, irrespective of their language, should have English subtitles. The subtitles must be provided separately in a properly formatted SRT file (You can use this tool – aegisub.org / Dubverse.ai / or any other free tool to create Subtitles). Find sample Subtitle file here.

10. All team members must be volunteers.

11. The team can have a minimum of 1 person and a maximum of 20 people excluding Actors. Each team member receives an e-certificate from IFP.

12. For the Amateur and Professional category, teams have to use a DSLR or professional film camera with at least 1080p video capture. For the Mobile Filmmaking category, a mobile camera with a minimum capture of 1080p should be used. 

13. Aspect Ratio:
-16:9 for Amateur, Professional And Mobile (Horizontal)
-9:16 for Mobile (Vertical)

14. The film of any of the categories should be edited on laptop/desktop only. 

15. Teams are encouraged to work with local composers and musicians to write and compose music for the films. Teams can use pre-recorded music if they have the rights to it. Copyrighted tracks can be only used up to a maximum of 15 seconds along with a compulsory mention to the composer and music link in the end credit of the film.

16. The Sound has to be Stereo. 

17. Teams cannot use stock footage or footage created earlier. Photographs can be used in a film, only if the team has the rights to use them.

18. End credits at the end of each film are limited to a maximum of 60 seconds. These 60 seconds are over and above the maximum length of 3 and 6 minutes.

19. The teams should use the ‘Opening Slide’ ie. IFP Title Slate provided to the team leaders along with the theme. Opening titles are considered to be part of the film, and hence count in the total duration of your film.
Order:   
- IFP Title Slate (provided to you at the beginning of the challenge)
- 1 second of blank
- 3 seconds of black slate with Film Name
- Your movie

20. Along with uploading the film, the teams are required to sign and submit the Creator’s agreement online which shall be sent along with the theme mail. Check out the agreement here.

21. The final video must be uploaded in MP4/MOV/MPEG-4 format. The uploaded video should be in 1080p and strictly below 2 GB. All the file names should be your Creator ID. For instance, if your creator ID is TA2140, your file should be TA2140.mp4 (Film), TA2140.srt (Subtitle), TA2140.pdf (Creator’s Agreement).

22. Teams are ideally expected to keep 48 hours for filmmaking and 2 hours for upload. We understand that some teams face genuine challenges during the upload due to technical issues. For teams who are genuinely unable to upload their films in the 50 hour period due to technical reasons, an extension of 4 hours will be provided. However, to keep the challenge fair, the teams who upload the film past the 50 hour deadline will face the deduction as below from their total jury scores.
- 0 to 1 hours - 5%
- 1 to 2 hours - 7.5%
- 2 to 4 hours - 10%

 23. For being eligible for the challenge, the film must not contain any material that hurts or violates someone’s personal rights, religious beliefs, incites violence or creates derogatory remarks about someone’s sexuality or belief. The film must not invade privacy or other rights of a person, firm or entity.

 24. Teams are requested to keep the original footage and project files of the films for a period of 3 years after the submission. IFP may select to broadcast these films across television and theatre for specific needs and shall require highest quality to achieve so.

 25. IFP team may add to or amend these rules at any time prior to the beginning of the filmmaking period, without informing the participants.

 26. IFP and project parties, in their sole discretion, can disqualify any film deemed to be inappropriate or otherwise non-compliant.

27. Once participation is confirmed, refunds will not be issued.

Read the FAQs

Q. I am not from India. Can I participate?
A. Yes! IFP welcomes entries from around the globe.

Q. Is there a registration fee?
A. The registration fee for each team is Rs. 3500 (USD 42) for Professional Category, Rs. 2500 (USD 30) for Amateur Category,  Rs. 1500 (USD 18) for Mobile Category (Horizontal + Vertical) Fees should be paid online to confirm your team participation. You will receive an email with your Creator ID upon confirmation.

Q. What is the evaluation criteria?
A. Your film will be evaluated on the basis of the following criteria
- Visual appeal
- Story
- Narrative flow
- Characters 
- On-screen performance
- Adherence to the category
- Adherence to the theme
- Adherence to the genre.

Q. What is the Creator's Agreement?
A. Each team leader has to sign an agreement, which is legally binding. The agreement will help protect your rights as a creator and our rights as a platform. This agreement will be provided to the team leader at the beginning of the challenge through email along with the theme. Any team leader not submitting the same will be disqualified along with the team. 

Q. Should my story revolve around or be based on the compulsory element?
A. No. Compulsory element should be a part of your film, but it should not necessarily be the central part of it. For e.g. - Compulsory element is a comic book so you can include it by showing how it is lying around somewhere in the frame, or how a character is reading it. 

Q. Can my film have no dialogues?
A. Yes, your film can have no dialogues and only music. You will have to explain the mood of the scenes in your subtitles. 

Q. Can I edit my film on mobile?
A. No, the film should be edited on laptop/Desktop only. 

Q. Are Special Effects allowed?
A. Yes, you can include special effects. However, no stock footage may be used for this. Inbuilt plugins and effects of software may be used.

Q. What will be the duration of the films?
A. - Professional, Amateur and Mobile (Horizontal) filmmaking: 4-6 mins
- Mobile (Vertical) filmmaking: 2-3 mins

Q. Does the maximum length of the film include end credits?
A. No, the end credits are not included in the duration of your film. The end credits can be a maximum of 60 seconds.

Q. Can I modify the film after the challenge?
A. Of course, you can modify the film post the respective year’s award ceremony, but keeping the following in the end credits – ‘This film was conceptualised for IFP Season 14.’

Q. How do I upload my film faster?
A. We would recommend you to render the film at 1080p for faster upload results. Also, keeping the file size below 1 GB would make it faster.

Q. Can I participate in multiple challenges with IFP?
A. Yes, with the same email ID and password, you can participate in other IFP challenges.

Q. What can be the team size?
A. The team can have a minimum of 1 person and a maximum of 20 people. Each team member receives an e-certificate from IFP.

Q. Can I modify my team after I have registered?
A. Yes. You can modify your team before registration closes.

Q. What about our film after the Challenge?
A. You can use your film in various ways, only to keep in mind that the film bears the credit “This film was made for IFP Season 14” in its title and end credits. For more details, read the team leader’s agreement sent to your team leader at the beginning of the 50 Hour Filmmaking Challenge.

Q. Can I sponsor this challenge?
A. Please mail us at [email protected]. 

Q. Is any footage allowed in the end credits?
A. Yes, but the narration of your story should end before it.

Q. Can I use a stock photo?
A. If you own the rights to the photo, you can use it.

Q. Is animation allowed?
A. No, animation in any form is not allowed in the film.

Q. Can we include a title animation or our company logo in the film?
A. Yes, you can. Provided they are only on screen for less than 10 seconds.

Q. What should be the shooting quality, aspect ratio and sound for the film?
A. The final output should be a MOV or MPEG4 file with a resolution of 1080p. The aspect ratio should be 16:9 for Amateur, Professional and Mobile (Horizontal). The Aspect Ratio for Mobile (Vertical) should be 9:16. The sound has to be stereo.

Q. What language must my film be in? Do I need to add subtitles?
A. Your film can be in any language. Subtitles are compulsory for all films. You can refer to the rules for more specific details about subtitles.

Q. I am a participant from out of India. What standard time should we follow for the 50 Hours?
A. The standard time for the challenge will be Indian Standard Time.

Q. I can’t find a team member. Can IFP help?
A. You can find relevant team members from our Instagram post by clicking here.

Q. Do I need a 'Location Release' to shoot on public property?
A. No, you need a location release only on a privately held property. But we strongly recommend taking permits wherever compulsory in the case of public property.

Q. Where do I upload the film?
A. Link to upload your film will be sent to the team leader at the beginning of the challenge along with the theme.

Q. Can I use mobile to upload my film?
A. We highly advise you to use a laptop to upload your film. Mobile connections tend to be inconsistent, leading to delays. Use of a high speed broadband is definitely a plus!

Q. How do you judge so many films?
A. Each film, according to its category of participation, is sent to three different pre-juries for evaluation, consisting of two people each. The cumulative score from the pre-juries is used to prepare a list of merit. The top 30 films from each category are sent to the final jury for viewing and ranking.

Q. Is the judging process transparent?
A. Being one of the leading festivals in the continent, we at IFP strive hard to make sure that justice is done to each and every film submitted. To make sure we do not miss out on any films, the IFP team also watches these films simultaneously and raises an issue internally if any flaws or biases are found in the process. We do not entertain any requests for paid awards, neither have in the past and nor will in the future, to keep the spirit of competition alive.

Q. Is it an online challenge or do I need to come anywhere/Mumbai?
A. The challenge is completely online. You can participate from the comfort of your home and submit through the submission form.

Q. What happens after I’ve submitted my work?
A. If you are nominated, you’ll receive an email for the same and will have to be present at the award ceremony for the final results at the IFP Festival which happens in Mumbai. If you’re not nominated, you can still attend the award ceremony and cheer for the winners.

Attend the IFP Festival

Oct 12 & 13 / Mumbai

In continuation with the challenges, IFP Fest is a place where culture breaks. Each year, over 85,000 creative enthusiasts and seekers from the field of Arts & Tech come together to dream of better ways to make the extraordinary happen.

Find free-spirited people like you and engage with them to unlock opportunities and build relevant creative collaborations.

Get More Details
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Challenge participants who are nominated will get a complimentary festival season pass.  Participants who do not make it to the nominations are welcome to buy festival season pass at a discounted price.

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