The Rialto Theatre was pretty close to packed last night as a crowd assembled to watch the fruits of 72 hours of labor by over 30 teams of individuals.

These teams accepted the challenge of creating a short film â€" no longer than five minutes total running time â€" in 72 hours, containing certain parameters.

The finished short film was to contain a Tacoma Landmark, something being thrown, tossed, or dropped, the line of dialog “What we’ve got here is a failure to communicate,” and a hat or cap as a prop.

Films were created by young teams â€" a group from Annie Wright School received the hastily assembled “youth film” award for their funny and intriguing look at OCD â€" and more experienced teams.  There were existentialist films, German, French, noir, zombie, action, documentary, scary, grim and laugh out loud hilarious films.

Through all 33 films at the 72-Hour Film Competition, there were themes that resurfaced, like, “Tacoma as a violent city,” “Tacomans as carriers of hip flasks (and guns),” “Tacomans as smokers,”   and yes, here it is, “Tacoma as a gritty city.”

It’s impossible to say which was my favorite.  I loved that "Euphoria" reminded me of my UWT student days (as did "The Applicant," in terms of setting and angst.)  I loved that "South 5" examined the “Tacoma is violent” question and came up with a brilliant proposal as to why that is.  I loved "The Tower" for its awesome use of the Museum of Glass as a backdrop, along with their use of the hat as the prop. I loved "Vinny Vegas" for its use of the B&I as a Tacoma Landmark, as well as the use of the Java Jive toilets as a setting.  I loved the story developments in "Black and White," "Letchworth Road," "Fries That Bind," "$5 Watch," "The Woodsmen are Dead," and "Our Movie."

I adored the filming of the movie "The Knitters," "Obituaries," and  "Excruciating Eyeball" with its monkey in a pope’s hat and dancing (sniff…sniff… is that Bauhaus I smell? Or is it Dada?) and German language had me cackling (and coughing) like a fiend.

Fortunately, I didn’t have to judge the best film (I won’t tell you what I had marked on my ballot) because apparently, the real judges had the same problems with calling one “best” that I did â€" the first vote, all five judges had picked a different film.

In the end, the judges chose one of my favorite movies, "The Knitters," for Best Use of Dialogue.  "Tintinnabulation" was picked for both Best Use of Location (First Pres. bell tower where the protagonist proposes) as well as Best Use of Action (the ring gets flung as the bell rings, surprising the propose-er before he can get the words out.)

Best Use of a Prop was "The Tower," where we wonder â€" is the man ill, or does the hat have magical powers, for real?

Ultimately, the judges’ collaborated pick for the best film was "Letchworth Road," while the audience favorite â€" also a close race â€" was "South 5."

If you missed the Rialto showing, Click! Network Channel 1 will be showing the film for only one week starting May 16, and The Grand Cinema had a DVD of all the films that they were selling in the lobby. You could probably beg the Grand to either sell you one, or to show the films again.  Marty Campbell told me he was buying one for Stadium Video. You may be able to beat the crowd and rent it there. â€" Jessica Corey-Butler