KALLAROO filmmaker Brian Hennings is using his smartphone to achieve success in the US.
His latest film Focus was shot entirely on a Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge smartphone and recently won first place at the International Mobile Film Festival in San Diego.
It has also just been screened at the Toronto Smartphone Film Festival.
Get in front of tomorrow's news for FREE
Journalism for the curious Australian across politics, business, culture and opinion.
READ NOW“Focus is a story about how a person with visual impairment sees the world and how the world sees her,” Hennings said.
He said inspiration for the film came from his sister-in-law who has lived much of her life with vision impairment.
“The juxtaposition of the way she carries herself and how she never lets her challenges stop her, contrasted against the way others can treat her when they realise her disability is interesting to delve into,” he said.
“I think it is awesome I get the chance to share her story.”
Hennings said using a smartphone to capture footage was an opportunity for people of all backgrounds to enter the creative arena.
“Smartphones are challenging the traditional filmmaking model, making it accessible to people on a wide scale,” he said.
“Many of the stories I’ve seen are thought-provoking, entertaining and visually stunning and are often films that would not have been made and distributed through traditional film channels.”
Hennings encourages others to take up the challenge of telling their stories through smartphone films, saying it is a good outlet for creative urges.
“And who knows; you may end up taking the top prize at a film festival half a world away,” he said.