AUSTRALIA’S NEWEST DIGITAL FILM FESTIVAL, PARTNERS WITH CHANNEL 11, AUSTRALIA’S NEWEST DIGITAL CHANNEL

11 July 2011 |Sydney

Mobile Screenfest International 2011 – the digital film festival that celebrates film and photos shot on mobile phones and tablet devices announces the new ‘Eleven out of 10 Award’. This innovative and exciting award will be presented to the best video advertisement for Channel Eleven, Australia's new free to air digital channel. The advertisement can be up to 60 seconds in length and has to be shot on a mobile phone or tablet device. Anyone aged 16 and above is eligible to enter and that the closing date for entries is the 21st August 2011. Winners are entitled to a $1100 cash prize for their next project.

Mobile Screenfest was created in 2010 by new media filmmaker and entrepreneur Avnesh (Avi) Ratnanesan of Araya Pictures in conjunction with Professor Karl Bardosh from New York University, one of the world’s leading experts in cell phone filmmaking. The festival which is now in its 2nd year, gives aspiring filmmakers, students and budding photographers a chance to win over $10,000 in cash and prizes. It has also attracted sponsors such as Adobe, Blueprint Law and Egg Media Industries as well as major industry partners such as Channel Eleven, YouTube and many more.

This year also sees several international partnerships formed as the festival opens to anyone in the world for the Best International Film Award. International partners include MobilizedTV from the US as well as international mobile festivals such as Cinepocket(Belgium), Cortofonino Film Festival (Italy) and the Hong Kong Mobile Film Festival. A Junior category for those aged 15 and under has also been introduced featuring 2 Awards – one ‘Open’ Award for any type of story and one ‘Recycle’ theme Award.

Mobile Screenfest International 2011 is now callling for entries and is hosting a FREE Educational Evening open to the public at Vibewire Youth Inc, a local creative youth organisation. Adobe’s tech guru Stephan Nichols will help mobile filmmakers and photographers shoot and edit with a mobile phone or tablet device. Details of the event are below:

Venue: Vibewire, 525 Harris Street, Ultimo (opposite the Ian Thorpe Aquatic Centre)

Time: 6.30pm registration for 6.45pm start

Date: 26th July 2011

The key criteria for Mobile Screenfest are that the short films should range from 30 seconds to four minutes in duration and have to be shot on a mobile phone or tablet device. Winners will be announced and screened at the Mobile Screenfest International Awards Night in late October 2011. In the mean time, visitors to the Mobile Screenfest website can also watch the entries and vote online for the highly acclaimed People’ Choice Award, which is based on popularity.

New festival categories for 2011 are:

Best Drama

Best Comedy

Best Actor/Actress

Two best Junior Awards – Open Category and ‘Recycle’ Theme

Best International Film

Best Music Video

Best Documentary/Journalism

Best Mobile Photograph

People’s Choice Award- for the most popular voted film on the website

Eleven out of 10 Award

For details on the seminar, events and to upload an entry, visit www.mobilescreenfest.com.au. Sign up to Facebook and Twitter and stay in the loop with Mobile Screenfest announcements:

www.facebook.com/mobilescreenfest

@MobScreenfest

Media Information: For further information please contact Jacinta Karras at jacinta@arayapictures.com