Smart Festival Events Programme
21-25 June 2021
We launched SMART because Smartphone filmmaking has come of age, proving to be a game-changer in film and video production, bringing fresh approaches to cinema, influencing the direction of television and completely redefining short form. You can now shoot things on your phone which you couldn’t capture in any other way. It is a device you have on you all the time, one that is familiar to people being filmed and unintimidating. It can work in intimate settings, exploit grey areas of informality, and help you work around the traditional gatekeepers of TV and video. In short, you can just do it, just go make that film you’ve been dreaming about. SMART is based in London but is international to its core.
Day One
Jennifer Zhang – Shooting and editing a feature movie on smartphone
Charon is a psychological thriller shot entirely on an iPhone 8 while Jennifer was housebound in her LA apartment during Lockdown. Jennifer is one of the first feature directors to both shoot and edit on her smartphone and will talk us through the pros and cons of making a no-budget feature.
Bio : Jennifer Zhang’s debut feature "The Evil Inside" sold worldwide after a successful festival run. Her most recent feature Charon has picked up over a dozen official selections and festival wins. She is currently in active production on a number of projects — among which is the film “Fetish” directed by Rhian Williams — which she wrote and produced and is set to release this year.
Day One
The Best Of Short Drama/Scripted
Watch the three nominated films and find out which won, followed by a Q&A with the winning director.
21 | Director: Tedy Nygh
Dawn Heist | Director: Neil Walshe
Therteen | Director: Cathriona Slammon
Day Two
Brian Hill – The smartphone as a disruptive force for filmmaking
Brian will give us a sneak preview of his most recent feature documentary, A Pandemic Poem: WHERE DID THE WORLD GO?, a collaboration with poet laureate Simon Armitage. Brian shot parts of it with his own smartphone. Brian will discuss how smartphones can be a disruptive and enabling force for all filmmakers working with or without a budget.
Bio
Brian Hill works in both documentary and drama, and sometimes in a hybrid space between them, as in films like Feltham Sings, Drinking For England and Songbirds. He has won three BAFTAs and been nominated seven times. In 2015 Bertha Dochouse showed a week long retrospective of his work. His most recent output includes Unprecedented, a series of 14 short dramas for the BBC about living in isolation during the pandemic. Actors in that included Gemma Arterton, Lenny James, Rory Kinnear, Paterson Joseph and Geraldine James.
Day Two
The Best Of Short Documentary/Factual
Watch the three nominated films and find out which won, followed by a Q&A with the winning director.
A Snail’s Pace | Director: Ian McDonald
In the Depths of the City | Director: José Rocha Pinto
Symphony of Spheres | Director: SJ van Breda
Day Three
Kevin James Thornton, winner of the SMart micro-short category, discusses smartphone micro-shorts and being a runaway success on TikTok
Kevin is a freelance filmmaker, musician and photographer. During Lockdown, with many of his projects on hold, Kevin picked up his smartphone and signed up for TikTok. His micro-shorts bring to life intimate, moving and funny stories from his past and present. His posts have gone viral and in just a few months Kevin has built a TikTok following of over 700k. He will discuss how his success on the platform has helped him find a whole new audience and fanbase for his work.
Bio : Kevin James Thornton is a filmmaker, photographer and composer. As an artist, Kevin has learnt the importance of creative entrepreneurship and reinvention. After touring for nearly a decade, his band got one of the last big record deals of the 2000s. Around the same time, iTunes and Napster were transforming the music industry and his record deal crumbled ‘Behind The Music’ style. Unsure what to do next, he found himself in LA performing stand-up. He won New Faces at The Comedy Store and hit the road again, this time as a comedian. Today he combines comedy, storytelling and music in his micro-shorts for Tik Tok and has built a whole new fanbase. He lives with his three cats and partner in Nashville.
Day Three
The Best Of Long Drama/Scripted/Movies
Watch the three nominated films and find out which won, followed by a Q&A with the winning director.
#eyewitness | Director: Martijn Winkler
Charon | Director: Jennifer Zhang
The Lost Pen | Director: Beraat Gokkus
Day Four
The Best Of Long Documentary/Factual
Watch the three nominated films and find out which won, followed by a Q&A with the winning director.
Home Stream | Director: Giulia Gandini & Lily Blackham
I Wish to Have an Airline Ticket | Director: Hao Wang
Tuesdays with James | Director: Dieter Deswarte
Day Five
The Best Of Experimental
Watch the three nominated films and find out which won, followed by a Q&A with the winning director.
Pharmakosis | Director: SL Pang
Swan Lake Bath Ballet | Director: Corey Baker
The Anxiety Tapes | Director: Francesca Salmasi