It's an offer that's hard to resist - make a film in a day and premier it within hours of finishing it.

"Conceive it, shoot it, edit it and show it. That's how it's intended to work," says filmmaker Dev Benegal of the "24x7 Making Movies" venture he is conducting at the International Film Festival of India here.

Thanks to this, 40 youngsters aged between 18 and 24, are putting together some 200 films against Goa's scenic backdrop.

These are, of course, short films ranging from 24 seconds to 24 minutes but are complete in every respect.

"24x7 involves making movies in a simple way and allows anyone to make a film for free," explained Benegal, known for his films "English August" and "Split Wide Open".

Benegal's team is offering cameras and editing backup for the venture.

"It's not trivialising the art of film-making. Making a film entirely in 24 hours of a length between 24 seconds to 24 minutes is a most difficult thing," said Benegal.

Thus far, 20 of the planned 200 films have been made. They are screened each morning at a newly built multiplex here.

This is the second time such an event is being held. The first was at an arts festival in Mumbai.

"We chose the themes of nature or violence this time. It's nice to give a concept, otherwise it's too open and too loose," said architect-turned-producer Anuradha Parikh, who is assisting Benegal with the project.

Some 250-300 youngsters initially showed interest in the project and 150 applied.

"But with five cameras and six editing suits, we had to basically select 40 on the basis of their concept, not their background in film-making or lack of it," explained Benegal.