48 HOUR FILM CHALLENGE PREMIERE
Fri 06 Mar | 20:30 | 90 mins | Recommended 12A | Free (Booking Essential)
The best films from 2026’s 48 Hour Film Challenge, followed by the presentation of this year's festival awards, including the 48 Hour Film Challenge Award.
Join us afterwards in the Café Bar for the Two Short Nights after party!
BIRTHDAYS
Team: VICtorious films
Two kids, experiencing the dull realities of life realise the colourful, uplifting vibrancy that Birthdays can provide!
MOTHER’S LOVE
Team: Summer Film School Legends
Assembled alumni from the Phoenix's very own Summer Film School present a dastardly, surprising and inspiring tale. A mother’s cherished little one is taken on a madcap and perilous adventure. It’s a race against time for the young mother to rescue her favourite child!
CRUMB & THE CAKE FISHERS
Team: The Regent Royals
Amanda Crumb delves deep into the world of traditional cake fishing.
THE BLACK FOREST
Team: Sharky Blockbuster Productions
A vain and ancient witch, desperate to regain her fading youth, lures a bright and curious young girl into The Black Forest. Once there, the witch plans to steal the girl’s youth to restore her own power. But the girl soon discovers she is not alone. With the help of the woodland creatures and magical allies, she uncovers the truth about her own powers and the strength she holds within herself. Together, she and her newfound friends must outsmart the witch and protect the woodlands.
BLOOD SUGAR
Team: TQ Films
An unexpected delivery leads to a series of strange events. What will happen with the next ring of the doorbell?
NEVER TOUCH THE GROUND
Team: Frank Mary Films
Two women, one cake and an epic cross-country challenge. Will sisters Berry and Mary MacGuffin uphold their mother's world-beating legacy by carrying a cake across the UK without letting it touch the ground? We follow them as they prepare to become champions of the Patisserie Endurance Challenge.
FREIHEIT
Team: Sleepless Frames
A man sets out on a journey with a letter, his past and the hopes for his future. Freiheit (Freedom) is a short film about the quiet relief of letting go and learning to understand that words lose their weight the moment you stop holding onto them.
JUST DESSERTS
Team: The Gremlins
A lone cowboy stumbles into the homestead of a ruthless rancher, determined to bring back the sister he has long been searching for. Tempers rise and loyalty is tested as the evening turns into a deadly game of nerves. A standoff unfolds over dessert with each player waiting for the perfect time to act. In an isolated western outpost, dessert isn’t the only thing being served.
LET THEM EAT CAKE
Team: 48 Hour Hustle
Struggling to resist the lure of cakes and sweets a man calls Dr Tem Tayson on the cake abstinence hotline...
THE JAFFA NETWORK
Team: SHARE FILMS
Two founders are caught in a heated debate.
ONE CAKE - TWO STORIES
Team: Corrugated Corduroy
An advert mash up tribute to Ted Moult and the Incredible Hulk
LA ACTUACIÓN/THE PERFORMANCE
Team: TEAM MEOW
On the eve of her quinceañera, a young girl is surrounded by preparation, expectation, and love that feels almost too heavy to carry. The family shop hums with last-minute stress as her parents juggle exhausted workers, political pressures, and the quiet fear of things falling apart. Tomorrow, their daughter must be perfect.
