Allegheny Film Union will kick off the second annual 48-Hour Film Festival this Friday.

The festival will challenge teams of three to seven students to create a short film in only 48 hours.

The 20 participating teams, an increase from the eight who participated last year, contain participants from Freshman Seminars, professors, alumni, clubs and other students. Vicki Vargas, ’12, vice president of the AFU, explained her hopes that the two-day event will positively influence the club and its goal to assist those interested in film production.

“This film festival will not only solidify our toddler-aged group on campus, but serve as an outlet for creativity,” said Vargas.

Creator Mark Ruppert, along with his filmmaking partner Liz Langston, came up with the 48-hour film festival in 2001. Since then, the event has expanded to 100 cities around the world. Since its inception, the festival’s goal has been to promote filmmakers by underscoring originality and teamwork. The only limitations are that each team must use the same prop and the same line of dialogue. From there, anything can happen. The final products can be comedies, dramas, experimental, thrillers, etc..

Blake Lyle, a participant in AFU’s festival, explained his anticipation for this weekend’s event.

“Not only am I excited to do a film but also see what others are going to come up with,” said Lyle.

Expect to see a lot of Allegheny students running around this weekend with cameras, microphones and coffee in tow. Communication Arts Professor River Branch joked that the film festival is great for new students and clubs.

“You really get to know each other through sleep deprivation and fun,” said Branch.

The festival launches Friday evening and wraps up Sunday at 6:30 with the screenings and awards at the Vukovich Center for Communication Arts building. All are welcome to attend and see which films take home awards for best of use of props, audience choice and best in fest.