From the 8th to 9th of January 2026, DP Film students at CDNIS participated in one of the biggest filmmaking competitions in all of East Asia – Babel 48. It’s an annual filmmaking competition hosted by Babel Film Workshop that invites DP film students from IB schools around East Asia to gather in groups of three to six people to create a film in forty-eight hours, not surpassing three minutes in total run time.
Each year, students are given three prompts to follow which must be creatively interpreted and integrated into their films. Each prompt draws inspiration from the top grossing films of that year. There will always be a required prop that must be shown at least once in the film, a line of dialogue that must be said verbatim, and a cinematography technique that must also be shown at least once in the film. A cinematography technique could include post-editing effects such as a mandatory monochromatic shot, or even a moment where a character breaks the fourth wall. With this in mind, it’s entirely up to the students to creatively interpret and incorporate these prompts into their work.
Behind the scenes, students formed groups and aligned themselves with one of the five core filmmaking roles: director, cinematographer, screenwriter, editor, or sound designer. From the moment that the prompts are released on the Babel website, students were encouraged to actively communicate with their group to brainstorm how they might incorporate the prompts into their film, and get a head start on the pre-production process. From pre-production to filming to post-production, students had exactly 48 hours from the prompt release time to create their 3-minute films and submit it to the Babel 48 website. Any late submissions, even a second past the deadline will result in disqualification from the competition, so students had to keep in mind the limited time that they had to create their films.
After submissions, Babel Film Workshop will judge each submitted film (one to two films per school, voted on by DP Film students) based on the best: use of prop, use of line of dialogue, use of cinematography technique, story, creative execution, and technical control. This year, the 3rd Babel Film Awards will take place at CIS on March 21st. Although films made for Babel 48 are not eligible for submission, it’s still a good opportunity to support your friends and fellow student filmmakers.
