Her deeply personal film Lodi features herself as one of two sisters go on a road trip to visit their dad’s grave. Together they have to confront the emotional weight of the last six years.
Courtney won the overall Best Film award as well as Best Director, Best Screenplay and Best Actress.
“This is an incredibly personal story, one that took a lot of time and courage to share,” said Courtney. “I decided to film on an iPhone 14 Pro because it felt akin to how I would document a trip with my family. And also because it’s way easier (and cheaper) to film with a phone when you shoot 11 pages in one day and drive over 200 miles in a vintage Mercedes with no aircon!”
Over 40 prizes were shared across the festival held over the weekend 18-19 November at the Actors Centre Australia.
They included finalists in the main Gala Awards section, SF3 Kids, Feature Films, Mini (between one and three minutes long)
and the SF360 (multidirectional multiview films with VR headsets).
Australia’s international film success story attracted over 450 entries this year – including 28 feature films – from 60 countries this year. More than $50,000 in prizes were awarded.
Among the winners were Down Syndrome filmmaker and actor Bevan Garozzo of Denham Court in Sydney’s West with Arinta Hardjowijono, Bevan won Best Documentary.
Other winners included: Glenhaven, NSW team and first-time filmmakers Jonathan Lagudi, Laura Brogan-Browne and Bailey Spalding for their hilarious heist comedy Idiot Proof (Best Screenplay – shared and #FILMBREAKER award). Lagudi also picked up the award for Best Actor.
Gorgeously filmed Queensland Queer love story Arlo and the Sea won Best Original Score for Michael Drew.
Among the other major award winners were South Africa’s SJ van Breda for Freeflow (Best Cinematography and Best Editing),
First Nations Award (Charli Fletcher of Randwick for The Locket) and Best Female Creative (Michele Jedlicka of Delungra, in the NSW Northern Tablelands for That Thing We All Share).
Best SF3 Kids High School film was funny customer service story At Your Service by Max Shao and Charlie Bradford (Castle Hill/Turramurra, NSW) and Best SF3 Primary School film was My Cookie by Becky Hampson and Sofiah Wiseman from Hills Drama School (principal Aaron Scully).
Best SF3 Kids Director was Indianna Thompson of Frenchs Forest.
Best Feature Film was the nail-biting indie horror film Paralysis by Levi Austin Morris of Los Angeles and Best Mini (Australia) was Mocha Madness by Greta O’Donogue and Fran Nagle of Newtown in Sydney’s Inner West.
Best SF360 film was shared by by Christopher Young (Margaret River, WA) for Thoughts and Italy’s Davide Rapp for Kursaal.
This year SF3 Online runs from November 18th to December 3rd with additional screenings including the full 10 Best Feature Film finalists and additional Highly-Commended films.
And, on Friday November 24th, the festival arrives in Melbourne at ACMI in Federation Square for a co-screening with another of the world’s largest smartphone film festivals – MINA.
SF3 co-founder and director Angela Blake said 2023 was the most exciting year of films yet.
“Receiving almost 500 entries has blown us away and proves that the world is inspired and excited by the possibilities of that little phone in your pocket. As well as professional filmmakers, we have seen so many first-time filmmakers inspired to pick up their phone and shoot their first film. This is exactly why we do this and why we’re thrilled to share this amazing bunch of stories with audiences live and online.”
For more info, online streaming of films and details of Melbourne screenings, visit www.SF3.com.au
