Now in its 7th year, The Dublin Smartphone Film Festival was formed with a simple ethos: expensive equipment shouldn’t be a barrier to creativity. Confusing, high-priced film equipment can often pose an additional hurdle for filmmakers starting out. They might have a story to tell but feel they can’t afford to tell it. The Dublin Smartphone Film Festival, a festival created for films shot on mobile phones, was designed to be the antithesis of this. We wanted to show filmmakers that it’s the story that’s paramount, and that a simple tool like your mobile phone is an accessible and powerful storytelling device.
This freedom for filmmakers is clearly reflected in the latest crop of officially selected films. Taking place on March 30th at the Pearce Street Theatre and the Irish Film Institute, the festival features an exciting mix of shorts. These include a sci-fi film from first-time director George Carter (78), a powerful documentary about women’s rights in Iran directed by Saba Ghasemi, and the premiere of the drama ‘Now & Then’ from multi-award-winning Independent Filmmaker Frank W Kelly.
The festival organisers have meticulously curated an exceptional program, emphasising powerful original concepts and innovative utilisation of technology. In an exciting development, this year’s festival has partnered with the Irish Film Institute to host a filmmaking workshop. Here, participants get hands-on experience with mobile moviemaking in the historic Irish cinema landmark.
Festival Director Robert Fitzhugh commented: “We just could not believe the success of the festival in the past 6 years. We sell out each year before the doors even open. It has been an incredible period of creativity with people utilising the tools they have at their disposal to tell stories. There has never been a more interesting time to explore Smartphone filmmaking. This is what the Dublin Smartphone Film Festival is here to do; to encourage the next generation of filmmakers to create their stories using their phones and to provide them with the widest possible platform to present these stories to a wider audience”
The Dublin Smartphone Film Festival will take place on the 30th of March 2024 at The Pearse Centre and Irish Film Institute.
Filmmaking Workshop:
Short film Programme: https://bit.ly/49Ei8as