PHOTO BY LAURYN HALAHURICH / THOSE IN MOTION

This year, I served as one of three judges for the Pittsburgh chapter of the annual 48 Hour Film Project. It’s a global network of competitions in which teams conceive, write, film and edit an original short film in the space of a weekend.

Admittedly, I got a bit queasy when I saw the number of entries in this year’s contest. With an average runtime of around 6 minutes, 48 short films (yes, there were 48 entries in this year’s 48 Hour Film Project) add up to almost five hours of content. That I would have to watch in short order — attentively, even.

I needn’t have worried. The films were generally delightful, and many were truly impressive. There was a hilarious time-travel comedy, “Andre Brown and the Unfortunate Fortune,” where a paper cut leads to a zombie invasion and the destruction of Pittsburgh. A silent family drama, “+1,” included a heartfelt message about grief and love. There was an expertly crafted tale of reluctant assassins, “Personal Baggage,” with a great twist ending, and there was a genuinely funny, sitcom-esque workplace comedy about ambiguous souls, “Corpurgatory,” made by middle-school students. Perhaps the most memorable was a demon-summoning musical about optimism, “The Summoning.”

The theme from “The Summoning” has been in my head for weeks.

You can watch many of this year’s films here (note that some aren’t all-ages). As strong as my favorite films were, however, my main takeaway was not about cinema; it was about community. The awards ceremony that wrapped up the competition was held Saturday night at the massive Rangos Giant Cinema at the Carnegie Science Center, and it was a standing-room-only sellout. Notably, the audience was not solely comprised of folks who were up for the evening’s awards; many of the people present were from films that had not been nominated — they just turned up to see which films took the prizes.

I saw that community in action throughout the process. At a kickoff event, longtime participants welcomed newcomers and made connections. At the judging session, event producer PJ Gaynard rattled off names of filmmakers and performers from memory, having seen their work year after year. And when teams posted their finished work to the project’s Facebook group, community members dashed to the comments to offer congratulations and praise.

The top films at each year’s competition go on to compete against those from other cities and countries, and that’s quite an honor. And for many, the 48 Hour Film Project becomes a first step toward a career in the arts — or at least a rewarding hobby.

But the passion for the project and the participants in it is, to me, the most important part of events like this. We hear quite a bit about the loneliness epidemic affecting the nation and the loss of communal experiences, societal issues that have devastating consequences. (We covered the many ways Pittsburghers are making new friends in our May issue.) Events such as the 48 Hour Film Project, which not only connect people but also give them shared purpose and the opportunity to work creatively together, are the antidote.

I’m so taken by the process that I may even be crazy enough to enter the competition myself in the future.

Honestly, I probably won’t. I value sleep far too much to spend a weekend toiling and editing. Then again, the people who got to see their work on the region’s biggest movie screen seemed really happy about it.

I may or may not be able to muster the energy to make a film in a weekend, but I’d recommend it to anyone. You’ll end up with a fun movie to show your friends — and, in all likelihood, a bunch of new friends.