Excitement is brewing for the Bay of Plenty finals of the Vista 48Hours film competition which are being held in Tauranga tonight.

Everyone is encouraged to come dressed as their favourite film or television character for the finals this evening and enjoy mixing with local filmmakers, actors and directors.

Twenty-two teams from the Bay of Plenty entered the competition which was held over 48 hours in August, with most coming from Tauranga.

Each film this year is required to be no longer than five minutes. The films were made in 48 hours from 7pm Friday, August 12, to 7pm Sunday, August 14.

Each team is given their genre and required elements at 7pm on the Friday night, and from that have to write, film, edit and upload their finished film. Some teams even write and record original music for their film's soundtrack.

A tense moment from Bay of Plenty team Freehand Films 'Il Potere'. Image: Supplied.

Two Bay of Plenty heats for the Vista Foundation 48Hours film competition were screened live on August 30. From that judges selected 12 finalists, which will be screened tonight at Event Cinemas Tauranga Central.

The judges for the Bay of Plenty competition are Louis Bolton, Paula Whetu-Jones, Jannine Spiers-Bishop, Huhana Ruri-Panapa and Melanie Mills.

The nationwide competition, now in its 20th year, has this year attracted 555 teams from around NZ, including about 130 schools.

More than 6000 shorts have been produced for 48Hours over the 20 years.

An enormous amount of people have had a lot of fun. Each year there's been equipment/rental facilities selling out, actors suddenly cancelling commercials, celebrity friends being abused, broken bones, relationships ending, moments of pure ecstasy, absolute exhaustion, extreme bonding, annoyed neighbours, production gear disappearing, cars stolen, meltdowns and the most immense fun.

Lead actor William Clague in 'Closet Cowboy'. Made by team 'Future Opportunists', the film was the Bay of Plenty audience favourite. Photo: Supplied.

This year the 10 genres are the anniversary movie, comedy of errors, supernatural, impossible situation, the swap movie, multiverse, coming-of-age, musical or dance, crime, and pavlova western.

The required elements that have to be incorporated into each film are a sign, a whisper, a worm's eye view or bird's eye view shot, and a gate keeper.

There are thousands of dollars' worth of prizes up for grabs for teams as well as a solo/duo award. This year OPPO has partnered with the Vista Foundation 48Hours to bring the new OPPO48 Award to showcase mobile phone filmmaking in NZ, with an impressive top prize of $5,000.

The National Finals of Vista 48Hours will be held in November, with Peter Jackson selecting three films as his wild card entries into the finals.

A scene from 'Fried Chicken' a supernatural themed film by team Boat People. Image: Supplied.

Bay of Plenty City Finalists:

Acedia Pictures - Sit Tight
Big Picture Minor Deets - Mind Over Molly
Budget Boy Films - The Cure
Eddie Page Productions - Yeaagghewahh (Love Ya Face)
Frances Berkers - Studio
Great Lake Film Society - Sacrifarce
Guavablue Productions - Flüstern des Herzens
NUTTY MOSQUITOES - Dungeons & Narcissism
Pining for the fjords - Isobel
Seña Pictures - Ostiarius
Temporary Estate - Delivered
The Foreigners - Slay! (that guy over there)

Bay of Plenty Award Nominees:

Best Use of Element - A Sign
Big Picture Minor Deets - Mind Over Molly
Great Lake Film Society - Sacrifarce
Eddie Page Productions - Yeaagghewahh (Love Ya Face)
Furious Opportunists - Closet Cowboy

Best Use of Element - Whisper
Acedia Pictures - Sit Tight
Great Lake Film Society - Sacrifarce
Guavablue Productions - Flüstern des Herzens
Seña Pictures – Ostiarius

Best Use of Element - Gatekeeper
Great Lake Film Society - Sacrifarce
Furious Opportunists - Closet Cowboy
Pining for the fjords - IsobeL
Seña Pictures – Ostiarius

Best Use of Element - Bird's or worm's eye view
Budget Boy Films - The Cure
Eddie Page Productions - Yeaagghewahh (Love Ya Face)
Seña Pictures – Ostiarius

Best Use of Genre
Budget Boy Films - The Cure
Great Lake Film Society - Sacrifarce
Guavablue Productions - Flüstern des Herzens
Seña Pictures - Ostiarius
The Foreigners - Slay! (that guy over there)

Best Disqualified Film
Heights Media - Familiar Steps

Incredibly Strange
Guavablue Productions - Flüstern des Herzens

Best Original Score/Song
Budget Boy Films - The Cure
Eddie Page Productions - Yeaagghewahh (Love Ya Face)
No Ideas - Meant To Be
NUTTY MOSQUITOES - Dungeons&Narcissism

Best Sound Design
Frances Berkers - Studio
Great Lake Film Society - Sacrifarce
Guavablue Productions - Flüstern des Herzens
Seña Pictures – Ostiarius

Best Editing
Big Picture Minor Deets - Mind Over Molly
Budget Boy Films - The Cure
Great Lake Film Society - Sacrifarce
Guavablue Productions - Flüstern des Herzens
Seña Pictures – Ostiarius

Best Animation
Frances Berkers – Studio

Best Production Design
Budget Boy Films - The Cure
Great Lake Film Society - Sacrifarce
Guavablue Productions - Flüstern des Herzens
NUTTY MOSQUITOES - Dungeons&Narcissism

Best Cinematography
Budget Boy Films - The Cure
Great Lake Film Society - Sacrifarce
Guavablue Productions - Flüstern des Herzens
Pining for the fjords - IsobeL
Seña Pictures – Ostiarius

Best Script
Big Picture Minor Deets - Mind Over Molly
Budget Boy Films - The Cure
Eddie Page Productions - Yeaagghewahh (Love Ya Face)
Great Lake Film Society - Sacrifarce
Seña Pictures – Ostiarius

Best Performer
Acedia Pictures - Mia Mackenzie
Big Picture Minor Deets - Simone Walker
Budget Boy Films - Nathan Coburn
Eddie Page Productions - Larissa Allen
Great Lake Film Society - Roy Bowers

Best School
Acedia Pictures - Sit Tight
Bumfuzzled Goblins - Framed
Irelly Studios - Lilith
NUTTY MOSQUITOES - Dungeons&Narcissism
Slay - Wait For Me

Best Director
Budget Boy Films - The Cure
Eddie Page Productions - Yeaagghewahh (Love Ya Face)
Great Lake Film Society - Sacrifarce
Guavablue Productions - Flüstern des Herzens
Pining for the fjords – IsobeL

City Manager Award: Best Line of Dialogue
Big Picture Minor Deets - "My dearest Leonard died. And I just had a real "haha" moment!"
Eddie Page Productions - "Yeaagghewahh (Love Ya Face)"
Great Lake Film Society - "This is awesome!"
Seña Pictures - "It's finished. This one's for me."

Wift Outstanding Female / Gender Diverse Filmmaker
Big Picture Minor Deets - Lux Taylor
Eddie Page Productions - Sarah Oemcke
Frances Berkers - Frances Berkers
Guavablue Productions - Rosalie Liddle Crawford
Temporary Estate - Peta van Rijen

The Bay of Plenty City Finals are being held at 6pm, Saturday September 17, at Event Cinemas Tauranga Central, 45 Elizabeth Street, Tauranga. The rating/classification is M Violence, offensive language and content that may disturb. City Finals Tickets are on sale here.