Monday, December 10, 2007

Make Documentary from Cell Phone

Masked and demure, she speaks from the tiny screen of a cell phone like a thumb-size fairy forever trapped inside. "Welcome home," she says softly to the viewer. "Speak to me about anything."

The minuscule video is among the works on display at a film festival that opened Friday in this Japanese port town, featuring 48 movies — all shot on camera-equipped cell phones.

Hazy and raw but urgently personal, these pocket-size statements on film, like Yuka Kojima's five-minute "Thumb Girl," were selected from more than 400 entries in an international contest.

The works, streaming on monitors of cell phones strapped to tables, are filled with everyday shots, some literally taken on the run with streets and cars whizzing past in a blur.

They have a voyeuristic feel because the cell phone is so unobtrusive. Devoid of the typical grandeur of standard films, they offer grainy but patiently taken close-ups that don't rely on zooms and other fancy editing techniques.

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