by FilmInk Staff
What began as a historic selection has now become a historic result.
Following their January screenings at the Sydney Opera House, Melbourne filmmaker Tez Frost (Tez Vi Truong) and his two children have returned from the 2026 SmartFone Flick Fest after Tez’s short film, The 5-Minute Empire, took out Best AI Film, the first award of its kind in the festival’s history.
The win followed The 5-Minute Empire’s inclusion in the SF3 Gala Finals, where it screened alongside just 15 other selected works. Shot on an iPhone 12 Pro and recognised for its narrative-first use of AI, the film marked SF3’s first formal acknowledgement of AI filmmaking as a distinct creative category.
While SF3 has long championed mobile-first storytelling, the introduction of the Best AI Film award reflects a broader shift in how emerging tools are being evaluated, not for spectacle, but for how they support story, intention, and craft.
The award capped off a rare weekend for the Truong family, who earlier made festival history as the first family of three to have films screen across both the Kids and Gala programs. Alexis Truong (7) and Charlie Truong (5) were both featured in the SF3 Kids screenings, continuing a journey that began when Alexis became the youngest filmmaker ever selected by the festival in 2024.
For Tez, a Guinness World Record-breaking filmmaker and former Disney writer, the recognition signals a turning point in conversations around AI and cinema. “This award wasn’t about what AI can replace,” he said following the screening. “It was about what it can support, when the story stays in human hands.”
Now in its 11th year, SmartFone Flick Fest continues to evolve alongside the tools filmmakers use, with this year’s Opera House screenings marking one of its most significant chapters yet.
More information on Tez Vi Truong’s work is available via https://www.instagram.com/tezfrost/.
