IPhone flick gets film fest nod

Long gone are the days when handsets were just for communication.

These days, smartphones like Apple’s popular iPhone have emerged as tools to express creativity.

“The Idea of Creation,” a film shot on an iPhone, has been nominated in the mobile competition category at this year’s Shanghai International Film Festival, which began its nine-day run on Saturday, KT announced yesterday.

KT, a Korean mobile carrier, introduced the iPhone to the country in November 2009, enjoying sole distributorship for more a year until SK Telecom also began offering the device in March this year.

“The Idea of Creation,” made by Kwon Jin-hee, a relatively unknown Korean director, is a documentary that portrays life’s ups and downs from the perspective of a bug. The five-minute and 23-second film already earned a second-place prize among 470 entrants in February at the Olleh-Lotte Smartphone Film Festival, a festival dedicated to films made on smartphones and organized jointly by KT and Lotte.

With the rising popularity and improved specifications of smartphones, the devices have emerged as vehicles for creative content production.

International film festivals have begun to recognize the quality of smartphone-produced content. The Jeonju International Film Festival, which took place last month in Jeonju, North Jeolla, included a smartphone film program.

“Night Fishing,” an iPhone-made film by Park Chan-wook, took the best short film award at the Berlin International Film Festival in February.

“The Shanghai International Film Festival 2011 will launch Mobile SIFF, which combines the fine art of motion pictures with the latest communications technology,” the organizers said through the festival Web site. “This is an amazing opportunity for short films to gain massive distribution given the number of mobile phones in use.”

“The Idea of Creation” is among 10 nominees in the documentary section of Mobile SIFF. The jury is headed by Tsui Hark, an internationally acclaimed Chinese director.

Besides “The Idea of Creation,” 14 other Korean films made on smartphones have been invited to be screened at the festival.

By Kim Hyung-eun [hkim@joongang.co.kr]