Sydney smartphone film festival finds global success

Three years after it began, Sydney’s SF3 SmartFone Flick Fest attracted 130 films made on mobile phones

SmartFone Flick Fest co-founder Ali Crew, at the Chauvel Cinema in Paddington. Picture: John Appleyard

THREE years after it began, Sydney’s SF3 SmartFone Flick Fest attracted 130 films made on mobile phones.

Entries this year came from all over the world, including Nigeria, India, Iran and Ecuador, as well as many by local filmmakers, some of them teenagers.

Co-founders Ali Crew and Angela Blake, who met doing a short play together, started the film festival in 2015.

“Interest in smartphone filmmaking has really been building, and the credibility of it as well,” said Crew, whose day job is radio producer and presenter.

She and Blake whittled down the entries to 10 finalists, which were then scored by 13 judges, including award-winning cinematographer Pieter De Vries, founder of the San Diego mobile film festival Susan Botello, and Sydney playwright Louis Nowra. The winners will be announced at the gala awards night tomorrow.

One advantage of phone cameras is being able to squeeze into small corners, said Crews. “So you can get some really interesting angles and shots you couldn’t possibly get with traditional cameras.”

Money is also less of an issue. Last year’s winner, No Budget, was made by Sydney actor Christopher Stollery on no budget. This year’s festival screening will include the winners of the Kids Flick Pick, aged 14 and 17.

“People are blown away when they come to our screening, they can’t believe something shot on something as small as your phone can blow up on a cinema screen,” said Crew. It’s just as exciting for the filmmakers — most have only seen their film on a phone or desktop computer.

What makes a good film is pretty simple. “If it’s a really good story or an interesting subject for a documentary, it doesn’t matter if it’s shot on an iPhone 3 or 7,” Crew said.

It’s all about making filmmaking more accessible, she said. “Anyone in the audience who has an idea or a story they want to tell, they can now do it.”

The public can view the finalists’ films on the festival website now and vote for their favourite for the People’s Choice award.

SF3 Gala Awards Final Night, Thursday August 24, 7pm, Chauvel Cinema, Paddington, sf3.com.au