All the National Winners

We've gathered together all the national winners from past years for your viewing pleasure.

If you really want to delve deep into the competition's history you can also check out the Wikipedia Article for all the details. (We're not sure who updates it but they are awesome).

2003 - 'Special Crime Unit' by Team Crash Zoom

The inaugural winners of the 2003 competition were Team Crash Zoom who produced the hilarious crime short SPECIAL CRIME UNIT. They even took it to Austin, Texas and came runner up in the US competition. That same team eventually made the very successful show "The Jaquie Brown Diaries".

2004 - 'Heinous Crime' by Taika

In 2004 it grew to 80 teams in Auckland and 45 teams in Wellington. Controversy loomed in Wellywood, when Oscar Nominee & chess player Taika Waititi and his partner in crime, Loren Horsley took top honours with the brilliantly silly and subversive HEINOUS CRIME.

2004 - 'Jesse McCloud: The Journey'

Up in Auckland, a comedy posse with Te Radar at the helm, produced what some have called, the greatest 48HOURS short ever produced - JESSE MCCLOUD: THE JOURNEY, which managed to use all three of its genre choices, in a friendly tale of family euthanasia.

2005   - 'A Fairly Good Tale' by Crash Zoom

In 2005 the competition became a truly national competition with Christchurch and Dunedin joining the chaos and 270 teams entering the competition. There were some truly southern fried entries that year and with Peter Jackson coming onboard as the annual Wildcard Judge, the competition was never the same again. And in one of the greatest comback stories of all time, the inaugural winners Team Crash Zoom returned and took the crown once again with the charmingly weird A FAIRLY GOOD TALE.

2006 - 'Brown Peril' by The Downlow Concept

In 2006 three funny guys from Auckland created a hilarious short about the first Tongan badminton champ. The Downlow Concept's BROWN PERIL slayed audiences and judges alike. The funniest short ever to make the finals has become one of the 48Hours most beloved.

2007 - 'Lease' by Lense Flare

And in 2007 the competition grew to over 500 teams nationwide and a serial killer from Shortland Street and his pals (Team Lense Flare) took the Grand Prize with a little (impossible to get out of your head) ditty called LEASE.

2008 F*Dance by Puppy Guts

In 2008, over 600 teams took part. The winner was Team Puppy Guts (who were chosen as a wildcard by Peter Jackson) and their film F*DANCE.

2009 - 'Charlotte' by Line Men

In 2009 over 650 teams took part and an animated film took out the overall grand prize, beating a lot of excellent shorts. It was the closest race to the final in the history of the competition.

2010 - 'Only Son' by The Downlow Concept

And in 2010, the team that won't stay dead did it again. The Downlow Concept who were Grand Champs in 2006 came back and reclaimed the title with their phenomenal short ONLY SON which then went on to win Best Short Film at the Qantas Film & TV Awards.

2011 - 'The Child Jumpers' by Grand Cheval

2011 Saw a team given a new Genre win the competition. Team Grand Cheval took the honours with their 'Fad' Film 'The Child Jumpers'

2012 - ‘Brains’ by Noise and Pictures

2012 saw Zombies rule the comp, with Team Noise and Pictures taking a refreshing look at a popular short film subject. Their winning film exhibited in film festivals around the world.

2013 - ‘The Sleeping Plot’ by Traces of Nut

In 2013, crime movie - 'Sleeping Plot' by Traces of Nut took out the competition with the whole film shot from a child's perspective. Sleeping Plot screened at the prestigious Fantastic Fest in Austin, Texas, the Cinequest Film Festival in San Jose, California and was nominated for best self-funded short film in the NZ Film Awards.

2014 - ‘Pants on Fire’ by Lense Flare

The competition heated up in 2014 with the winning team, Lense Flare actually burning down a house with their film, "Pants on Fire".

2015 - ‘Bread Winner’ by Chess Club

2015 was another year of the musical with Chess Club winning best film with 'Bread Winner'.

2016 - 'Time Travel Centre' by Chilly Box

With one location and a small cast, Chilly Box's film - Time Travel Centre wove a clever film together that won the national finals in 2016.

2017 - ‘Under the Bridge’ by Cool Story Bro

In 2017 a film directed by Lauren Porteous called 'Under the Bridge' about an unlikely friendship rose to the top.

2018 - ‘Peptok’ by Chillybox

2018 saw team Chillybox triumph for the second time with their futuristic technological thriller 'Peptok'.

2019 - 'A Familiar Feeling' by Snack to the Future

2019 was the first time a team from Christchurch took out the national title. Snack to the Future triumphed with their cringe comedy 'A Familiar Feeling'.

2020 - ‘For Generations’ by Squint Eastwood

2020 was one of the most memorable competitions with the main competition cancelled by a pandemic. Who'd have thought? With a nation at home in lockdown and hankering to create short films 48Hours ran a lockdown competition. Wellington solo animation team Squint Eastwood took out the National title in what has been the biggest 48Hours ever.

2021 - ‘Good Girl’ by Traces of Nut

2021 was right back into normal competition, despite COVID-19 level changes and tsunami warnings. Past winning team Traces of Nut took out the final in a tight competition year with their splatter comedy film 'Good Girl'. 

2022 - ‘Big Questions’ by Mitchell’s Here

Created by the team 'Mitchell's Here', this animated entry captured the hearts of the judges and audiences. Liam Maguren is a Māori (Ngā Rauru) Pākeha (Irish) animation filmmaker, as well as film writer for Flicks. Liam has competed almost every year since 2006.