Press release from Tsuki
Inaugural Mobile Screenfest Launches and Opens Call For Entries
First of its kind mobile film and photo festival in Australia now open
Mobile Screenfest – Australia’s first mobile phone film festival is giving anyone who loves filming videos and taking photos on their mobile phone the chance to win over $10,000 in prizes. For the tech-savvy, budding photographer or emerging filmmaker, the competition is as simple as shoot, upload and win. Now open to the public through www.mobilescreenfest.com <http://www.mobilescreenfest.com> , the Festival aims to recognise the growing global phenomenon of ‘shot-on-mobile’ content.
Based on the premise that everyone has a story to tell, Mobile Screenfest was conceptualised and created by Avnesh (Avi) Ratnanesan of Araya Pictures in conjunction with internationally recognised Professor Karl Bardosh from New York University, one of the world’s leading experts in cell phone filmmaking.
There are nine categories in the festival, ranging from ‘Best Music Video’ and ‘Best Phone Journalism’, to the coveted ‘People’s Choice Award’, all of which can be voted for online. Featuring a global first, the festival will also have a ‘Best Sport Video’ category.
The key criteria are that entrants should be Australian residents aged 15 and over and the short films should range from 30 seconds to four minutes in duration. Finalist entries will be evaluated by a panel of international judges and will be screened to audiences in August 2010 in Sydney, where the winners will be announced.
“The success of platforms like Facebook and YouTube prove that most people love to share their own stories by their own visual storytelling, personal stories that they hope would interest a wider audience. With a camera-phone always in their pockets they can shoot and upload their stories to the web instantaneously. We want to promote this inherent talent through a ‘made-on-mobile’ competition to raise awareness about the range of possibilities and the future of mobile phone filmmaking – which we know is very bright,” said Professor Karl Bardosh, Artistic Director of Mobile Screenfest.
“Mobile Screenfest seeks creative shot-on-mobile memories, stories and entries that will set the bar for the user generated content in Australia. This is a platform where creativity, mobility, technology and audience engagement all converge to create narratives that resonate across the wider public,” said Avi, Festival Director and Founder or Araya Pictures.
The festival is open for entries in the following categories:
* Best Drama
* Best Comedy
* Best Horror/Thriller
* Best Actor
* Best Music Video
* Best Phone Journalism
* Best Sports Video
* Best Mobile Photography
* People’s Choice Award
MOBILE SCREENFEST COMMUNITY
Sign up to Facebook and Twitter and stay in the loop with Mobile Screenfest announcements:
www.facebook.com/mobilescreenfest
http://twitter.com/@MobScreenfest
For full details, guidelines and to upload an entry, go to www.mobilescreenfest.com.au