Over the next two weeks, take a break for a smile, a squirm and a laugh. Whatever your age, be touched, moved, and inspired by the third Smartfone Flick Fest. From its gala opening, screenings and awards ceremonies on Sat 26th Feb 2022 at the Palace Chauvel Cinema, Paddington and Sunday 27th at the Actors Centre in Leichhardt, the films will be available online for 14 days until Sun 13 March. Online showcases all films from the live screening plus an extra 7 feature film finalists and an additional online selection.
There were more than 300 entries for short films and 18 feature length films from countries all over the world. Of these, more than 70 will feature online with curated programs for the festival’s Gala Awards final, feature film and SF3 Mini screenings, SF3 Kids and SF360 categories
Viewers of the short films will spend from a few to twenty minutes variously in rooms, on the streets, underwater, surfing, in snow or outer space. Many genres are covered including sci-fi, drama, romance and political documentary. Some films were already finalists and award winners in other festivals, including one made by an Academy Award winner.
The 15 finalists screened in the Gala include stunning short films from China, Italy, France, England and Scotland as well as a slew of Sydney, Melbourne and regional NSW entries. All of the films are engaging. A previous Academy Award filmmaker, Chris Overton presents Leader a film about art, the artist’s life, tourism and environmental issues. Educational messages also appear in several of the other films, including the nature doco The Secret Life of Bees and the political documentaries eight minutes forty six seconds, and Today I Will Live. Violence in a family custody dispute is unflinchingly portrayed in Dead Eye. One of the longer films, a grand adventure, Cold Water Therapy is particularly visually stunning.
Year of May captures the zeitgeist of lockdown, as does the more frenetic very short French film 9h17. Not everyone working at home stays indoors. In the black and white Working At Home the protagonist covers up as they escape into the streets. Overwork leads to the sound and visual buildup of tension in Negatives. A finalist in several UK and European Festivals, Dance Bots, addresses how we judge the human and the technological and the blurring of the two. The Australian romantic film, Beta Days, shows the end days of purveying old technology. Odd One Out by Andrew Robb is heart rendering as ‘a lonely doll struggling to fit into a new community goes on a journey of discovery’. Younger and older viewers will be charmed by a space launch in Earth 1 and Hoostin. The space theme continues in a short farewell The Scharzschild Radius.
All 15 films are strong in their own right. As for ‘a favourite’, that may depend on the viewer’s mood and circumstances at time of viewing.
The feature films include two Australian features – the gripping One Punch masterfully shot by by AFTRS grad, Darcy Yuille and MISPLACED by first-time Sydney filmmaker, James Demitri. One Punch tests the power of family, unity and respect set inside homes, markets, streets an industrial complexes. MISPLACED walks us through a slow sombre elegiac visual poetry piece. Each will be screened with SF3 Mini programs on Sunday 27 Feb.
The record number of SF3 Kids entries have been whittled down to the best 25 shorts by filmmakers 16 and under – to be screened at the Actors Centre in Leichhardt on Sunday 27 Feb. This year’s Sydney lockdown meant the SF3 Mini category came into its own for films 3 minutes or less. With a theme of “RISE”, these movies partnered with the United Nations Association of Australia. The finalist SF360 (360 degree) movies will all screen online – due to Covid restrictions.
Enhancing the depth and importance of this Film Festival are the Festival Ambassadors: Indigenous Ambassadors journalist and producer Stan Grant, actor and director Wayne Blair and high profile screenwriter Jon Bell, join Phillip Noyce, Kriv Stenders, Nicole da Silva, Jason van Genderen, Kerry Armstrong and Christopher Stollery. The first ever SF3 Kids Ambassador is Emily Prior and the first African Ambassador is Wanuri Kahiu from Kenya
For full details, bookings, access to online screenings and more, visit www.SF3.com.au
Featured image : A scene from the movie ‘Old Enough’