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If you were Dining Out For Life last night you might have seen a frenzied film crew sprinting between locations. What you witnessed, disguised in panic, was cutting edge movie making in action, thanks to The Grand Cinema's 72 Hour Film Festival. The weekend film competition kicked off last night inside The Grand with the mandatory elements distribution - otherwise known as the competition's giant kick in the pants. Representatives from 28 ambitious and slightly masochistic filmmaking teams listened to The Grand's Executive Director Philip Cowan explain the rules and the mandatory common aspects.

The rules are simple, and simply exasperating: the filmmaking teams - running the gamut from Costco camcorder amateurs to HD wielding professionals - must write, shoot and hand in a finished 5-minute film in exactly 72 hours.  To keep anyone from getting a jumpstart, common aspects must be included in each film. Every year, one aspect destroys most pre-production work. This year, it's the mandatory situation: "Within the first minute of the film, each film must find a bag with something important in it (and relevant to the rest of the film). You could see the shoulders slump around the room after the filmmakers discovered that little tidbit.  The other common aspects this year are: the line of dialogue ("Should I know what that means?"), prop (map, which can't be in the bag), and action (breaking). Miss one, and it's an automatic forfeit.

The teams have until 7 p.m. Sunday to hand in the finished film on DVD.

The Grand Cinema with host the 2010 72 Hour Film Festival screening Friday, May 7 at the Rialto in downtown Tacoma. Everyone is invited to enjoy this collaboration of 28 films written, directed and produced by local filmmakers. Doors open at 6 p.m. and the films will begin at 7. Tickets are available for $13 general admission or $11 for Grand Cinema members. You can purchase tickets by stopping by the Grand Cinema, or by visiting The Grand's Web site. Tickets will be available at the Rialto Theater's ticket office May 7 beginning at 5:30 p.m. Day of event ticket prices will be $15 GA, $13 members.