With just a month to go, more than a dozen teams of Baltimore filmmakers have signed up for this year’s local running of the 48 Hour Film Project _ which challenges auteurs to compete to produce the best short film in two breathless days.

Aspiring Spielbergs and Kurosowas will be off and shooting at 6 p.m., Friday June 1, and runs through the weekend. Space is limited and $140 early bird registration ends May 7.

The short named Baltimore’s best “48 Hour Film” last year was The Auctioneer, by team Ping Kong King Pong. The silent film about a man trying to cope in the aftermath of a breakup with his girlfriend by selling cherished momentos online was directed by Everett Glovier and stars Brandon Baker, Morgan Baker, and Nick Fritz.

Competitors are given a character, a prop, a line of dialogue and a genre and cut loose to create.

Last year, nearly 60,000 filmmakers made 4,000 films in 96 cities on six continents, the Washington, D.C.-based organizers say, and this year the competition is expanding again.

More than a dozen of last year’s shorts will screen at the Canne Film Festival May 21. Past Baltimore award-winners have screened at the Baltimore Museum of Art and the Charles Theater. Local sponsors include The Charles, the Joe Squared coffee house and Baltimore’s Chesapeake Systems, an IT company.

For diverse and sundry other events, see the Brew’s new Coming at You listings.