RTE documentary wins big at Dublin Smartphone Film Festival 2021

The Dublin Smartphone Film Festival is and Ireland’s only International Film Festival dedicated to filmmakers exclusively using mobile devices. For the first time ever the Dublin Smartphone Film Festival was a weeklong event. This resulted in a chance to showcase more short films than ever. In this expanded field it became even tougher than ever for our judges to pick winners for this year’s event in all the various categories. This weekend the winners were announced with Philip Bromwell’s Covid-19 Documentary “Going Back to School in the age of Covid-19” winning the best Irish film at the event.

The Dublin Smartphone Film Festival 2021 winners included:

Best Irish Film: Going Back to School in the age of Covid-19

A moving mini Documentary from RTE news mobile Journalist Philip Bromwell. This charming documentary interviews a number of school children ahead of the return to school. These children living in a flat complex in Dublin articulate the change, stress and isolation they have experienced during five-and-a-half months away from the classroom. It’s a charming doc capturing the voices and opinions of people affected by school closures that is often not heard.

Best Fiction: Invasion

A haunting thought-provoking SCI-FI short about a young woman recounts a visit by a mysterious entity. Directed by Australian director Peter Majarich and shot on an iPhone 8. This film is a stunning example of shooting a film on your phone with its incredible cinematography and moving performances.

Best Music Video: Romano-Ticks

This incredible vibrant Music video from first-time director Stefanie Wermeling from Germany. This video deals with the compulsive and obsessive thoughts of daily life during 2020 infused with visuals from 90’s Jungle music. It is vibrant and propulsive and a worthy winner for this year’s award.

Best Documentary: Today I will live

This haunting short documentary is a striking example of mobile journalism. Using phones to shed light on some of the forgotten aspects of war. Director Nico Piro’s is an award-winning war correspondent and his film focuses on the people trapped in the middle of wars, the people who have nowhere to go.

Best Animation: Travel Bud

Another Irish winner, this time a charming animation from Dublin director Niall Farrell. This charming film follows a flower from seed to wildflower as he endures climate change in search of a better life. Funny, sweet and thought-provoking. This 2 min long animation is a master class in animating on portable devices.

With over 200 entries from more than 25 countries picking the winners was always going to be tough.

Here are the thoughts of Festival director Robert Fitzhugh:

“We weren’t sure how this year would go, moving the event online was daunting but the response was fantastic, it seems like even during this awful period of uncertainty, creativity as only excelled. People have access to storytelling devices in their pockets and we have seen a huge increase in quality and submissions. It makes us excited and hopeful for the future of Film”

You can find out more information and watch the winning films on their website: https://www.dublinsmartphonefilmfestival.com/