Can it be done? Who could do it?

The answer to the first question is yes. The answer to the second was provided by the approximately 60 people who gathered in the lower lobby of Tacoma’s Grand Cinema art house at 606 S. Fawcett Ave., at 10 p.m. Thursday to accept a challenge laid down by the theater’s managing director, Erik Hanberg. The challenge of the Grand’s 72-Hour Film Competition was to shoot, score, edit and submit a five-minute film by 10 p.m. Sunday.

The crowd comprised 26 filmmaking teams, some as small as two members. The films could be on any topic, but each had to contain four elements and a time limit. A telescope, binoculars or magnifying glass had to appear at some point. Someone had to say “Well, you know what they say.” Someone had to get splashed by a liquid. At least some scenes had to be shot in a Tacoma park. And most important of all, none could be more than five minutes long.

Using digital video cameras, desktop editing software, local crews, and filming at locations around the city – Wright Park and Firemen’s Park were two popular locations – they shot sardonic comedies and bloody dramas (plenty of red stuff splashed around in those), clever relationship pieces and one sweet family film that finds a father helping his inquisitive young son to define the meaning of the word “love.”

The winning film, chosen by a panel of seven judges, will be announced Thursday at a mini film festival at the downtown Rialto Theater, where all the entrants will be screened beginning at 7 p.m.

The people in the lobby Thursday were mostly locals. And on the basis of the 26 mini movies they turned in by Sunday’s deadline, they were certainly talented. The level of technical sophistication of most of the entries is remarkably high, particularly one called “Rubes,” a black-and-white drama with atmospheric cinematography reminiscent of “Good Night, and Good Luck,” in which officials gathered around a table to discuss the decision to drop the atom bomb on Hiroshima.

Comedies predominated. One, “The Magnifier,” is a ribald romp about a klutzy wrestler in a cheesy costume topped by a ridiculous bat mask. Two magnifying glasses serve as bat ears.

Another disposes of a requirement right at the start with its title, “Well, You Know What They Say,” and then uses what looks like a park-bench pickup encounter between a young man and a woman as a setup for a hilariously unexpected twist ending.

At the other end of the spectrum is “Anything Is Possible,” the contest’s only documentary. Made by Anita Beninger and Petra Boston, it examines homelessness in Tacoma. “The homeless community is very hidden in Tacoma,” Beninger said, “and the goal of our documentary was to make the homeless community visible.”

The idea behind the contest, now in its second year, is to showcase Tacoma filmmaking and to challenge area moviemakers to work quickly and creatively.

Daniel Purcell, the writer-director of “Exit Pupil,” a comedy about a manipulative fellow who gets a well-deserved comeuppance, said he and his crew had to trust their instincts to get their movie done well and on time. “We had to jump into it and hope that what we learned from our previous experiences got us through our fear.”

What: Grand Cinema’s 72-Hour Film Competition screening

When: 7 p.m. Thursday

Where: Rialto Theater, 310 S. Ninth St., Tacoma

Admission: $10