15-year-old cinematic ‘wunderkind’ Charli Fletcher of Randwick in Sydney has carried off a record five prizes at the finals of this year’s International SmartFone Flick Fest (SF3), held over the weekend at the Palace Chauvel Cinema in Paddington, Sydney.
The 10th annual iteration of this hyper-successful festival attracted hundreds of entries from all over Australia and internationally with finalists coming from as far afield as the USA, Brazil, Hong Kong, Taiwan, India, UK, France, Argentina, Israel, Turkey and Kazakhstan.
Charli’s film Don’t Ignore Me (which she actually made while still just 14) picked up Best Film, the Blackmagic Camera High School Award, Best Screenplay, the ACS Best Cinematography Special Mention Award for her company No Filter Productions and Best Editing (Nick Payne).
Amazingly, she shot the film on the iPhone 15 she received last year as First Nations Award winner!
An accomplished young film director, Charli has been making waves in the film industry with her unique vision and ground-breaking work.
At just 13 years old, she made her directorial debut with her short film ‘THE LOCKET’, which won her both local and international acclaim.
Her remarkable talent and dedication to her craft have earned her multiple awards and high praise at prominent film festivals, including screenings in Italy, Israel, Germany, as well as at renowned local festivals like Flickerfest and the Peninsula Film Festival.
In Don’t Ignore Me, Sofia’s obsession with her phone comes at the cost of her social life. But what starts as innocent scrolling quickly takes a dark turn when an app begins sending her messages.
With every notification blurring the boundary between the screen and reality. “Losing yourself in your phone has never been more terrifying…”
Another big winner was Gymea school student Connor Tattersal, whose film After Adam picked up the SF3 Kids High School Awards for Best Film, Best Director, Best Cinematography Best Editing and Best Actor (shared with Geelong, VIC’s Zac Deren for The Positivity Project).
Also scooping multiple awards was Erskineville’s Waiaria (Aria) Macedone-Hunt, who won the SF3 Kids Primary school Best Documentary as well as Blackmagic Best Primary School Film and the First Nations Award for A Novel Week.
Best feature film award was shared by Tay Jade Barrientos of Endeavour Hills, VIC for Liar and Yuri Zeltser of Los Angeles for Circumcision.
Runner up was Voices Unheard, a powerful film created by a team of teen actors and their teacher Aaron Scully from Hills Drama School, Sydney.
Best Mini (Australian) Film was won by Karina Bracken of Eastwood, NSW;
Best Actress went to Ally O’Brien of Bondi; Best Actor was shared by Reid McGowan (Lilyfield) and Nicholas Sampson (Alexandria).
