At 11:59 p.m. on Friday night, students gathered in the Arts Center to receive three mystery rules before launching into a mission that would expire precisely before the stroke of midnight. Wielding handheld video cameras, iPhones and ADNH pizza boxes, NYU Abu Dhabi’s resident filmmakers began this year’s 24-hour film race.

Boundary, give you up and thrown down; these were the three elements all films must incorporate. Maximum length, three minutes and 35 seconds. Otherwise, no holds barred. Five teams of filmmakers scrambled to script, cast, act, film and edit before their cinematic creations morphed into digital pumpkins by the next midnight.

An introductory video for the event revealed organizer and junior Robson Beaudry’s dramatic fallout with senior Krisztián Nagy in the lead-up to the race.

“I already told you, Robson, Tanzania was going to be the last film I would make with you,” Nagy told Beaudry in the video. “You always cast me as a ridiculous asshole with a power complex. I’m done with all of that.”

The power couple of investigative documentary-making on Illuminati activities was starting to fall apart, just as a shot at Best Picture was in sight.

“Listen, I get it. It’s the 24-hour film race. It’s important. But I have bigger things in my life right now — I’ve moved on,” Nagy concluded.

Beaudry managed to pull it together in time to join co-organizer and senior Jamie Sutherland to introduce the film race for other contestants.

On Saturday 11:59 p.m., contestants were back in the Arts Center while a panel of five judges deliberated over their picks for the categories: Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Editing, Best Screenplay and Best Cinematography. Judges were alumnus Adam Pivirotto and film professors Wendy Bednarz, Lamar Sanders, Joanne Savio and Scandar Copti.

The standout film of the race was Tricycle: The Story of Alejandro Mora, a fictional drama on a subject that resonated powerfully with NYUAD students: third-wheeling.