Lights, camera, action: Macleans College takes on 48HOURS filmmaking competition
Posted on August 17, 2026
A strong contingent of 135 students across 21 teams represented Macleans College in the 2026 48HOURS national filmmaking competition. The same number of students took part in 2025, highlighting the continued enthusiasm for filmmaking across the school.
The competition attracts hundreds of school teams and professional filmmakers from across Aotearoa New Zealand, making it a highly competitive event.
The challenge began at 7.00 pm on Friday, when each team was given a randomly assigned genre. Completed films had to be submitted by 7.00 pm on Sunday, giving teams just 48 hours to develop their ideas, film and edit their productions.
This year’s genres included eighties action, film noir, revenge, one take, and comedy of errors. Each film also had to include four specific elements: a drawing or portrait, an interruption, a rumour and an extreme close-up or macro shot.
The Macleans College teams included students with a wide range of experience. For some, the competition was their first opportunity to create a film. Others drew on existing skills in scriptwriting, acting, cinematography, editing and production.
Over the weekend, students took on a range of creative roles, costumes and characters to bring their stories to life. The resulting films included a self-reflexive found-footage film about 48HOURS sabotage, a student determined to escape maths class and an elaborate inescapable room.
The completed films will now progress to the heats, where standout productions will be considered for a range of awards, including Best School Team. The Macleans College participants are now awaiting the results after an intense weekend of creativity, teamwork and collaboration.
In time, the films will be available to watch on the Media at Macleans YouTube channel. Some may also be selected for the end-of-year filmmaking showcase, The Macademy Awards.
