Lights, Camera ... Remake!

Sundance. Cannes. Blue Bell?

Montgomery County Community College’s Communicating Arts Production Group challenges you and your team of filmmakers to create a five-minute film in just five days.

The challenge kicks off in MCCC’s Advanced Technology Center Feb. 24 at 7 p.m., when each team will be randomly assigned a genre. The challenge gets more complicated with the assignment of a specific line of dialog, a prop and a theme that must be included in each team’s film. 

By 7 p.m. March 1, teams must wrap up writing, shooting, editing and scoring the films and deliver them to the drop-off site. The completed films will be screened March 9 at 7 p.m. in MCCC’s College Science Center Theater. The screening will be free and open to the public.

The second annual Sweded Film Challenge is inspired by the movie“Be Kind, Rewind.” In it, actor Jack Black tries to cover up the fact that he erased all the VHS tapes in a video store by filming versions of popular movies recreated on the erased movie tapes. He explains to customers that the long wait times and higher rental fees resulted from the movies being made in Sweden (they were “Sweded”).

As part of this year's challenge, amateur filmmakers will also have the opportunity to "Swede" - or remake - a popular movie chosen randomly.

For their efforts, the team who produces the best film will be awarded a top prize of $250. Smaller prizes will be awarded in a variety of categories.

The rules are spelled out on the Web site, which also provides tips like “Do not try to make a bad movie.” And should life imitate art, the MCCC “Sweded” films should prove more endearing than the originals. To watch last year’s winning film and the other entries, go to http://www.fivedayfilmfestival.com.

So get ready to turn loose your inner Michael Gondry (“Be Kind, Rewind”), Danny Boyle (“127 Hours”) or Darren Aronofsky (“Black Swan”). Better not let the George Lucas wannabe near this one. Round up your cast and crew – all three of them – and start mapping out your strategies in advance of the genre assignments.

A panel of impartial film professionals and cinephiles will judge the entries, according to the film festival’s Web site, which also states that about 30 percent of the judging will be on technical skill, 30 percent will be on creativity and originality and 40 percent will be on how all aspects of production contribute to the finished film.

The entry fee is $25 per team. For more information or to register your team for the competition, visit www.fivedayfilmfestival.com.