The East Lansing Film Festival, or ELFF, will debut the 48/5 Film Contest on Friday at Magdalena's Teahouse, 2006 E. Michigan Ave. in Lansing. The best films from the contest will be screened at the film festival during the Lake Michigan Film Competition Awards Ceremony on March 26.

During the weekend, filmmaking teams must produce a five-minute short film within a 48-hour time frame. Teams will draw from a hat the film genre, a prop, a line of dialogue and a character. All the randomly selected elements must be included in the completed film.

Shannon Burton, the ELFF program director, said she got the idea to do a film contest like this when she attended a similar event in Edinburgh while studying abroad in Scotland as an MSU student.

"I always wanted to expand the film festival and make it a bigger event that includes more people, especially local filmmakers," she said.

Burton said she hopes to make the 48/5 Film Contest an annual event that will take place each year before the film festival to provide an opportunity for last-minute additions.

"I'd like it to get returning filmmakers and also new filmmakers because if you've never made a film before you can do it," she said. "I feel like we have a lot of filmmakers in the area, and especially a lot of student filmmakers. I'd like for the contest to become a staple that gives these people another opportunity."

The contest begins at 7 p.m. Friday and all films must be completed by 7 p.m. Sunday. Groups need to have their own filmmaking equipment and are free to film in whichever location they choose.

The contest will begin and end at Magdalena's Teahouse. The registration fee is $40 per team. Groups can register online by visiting www.elff.com. Registration on Friday before the meeting is permitted from 6 to 6:30 p.m. Films will be judged by members of the ELFF and other local film experts.