Australian filmmaker Jason van Genderen will share some tips to make films with smartphones. Photo courtesy of VFDA

HÀ NỘI –- Social distancing won’t stop filmmakers creating masterpieces as a pocket filmmaking masterclass will open on Thursday. The programme promises to change participants’ entire approach to filmmaking.

The programme will feature Australian filmmaker Jason van Genderen, who is known as a ‘filmbreaker’ – a strong advocate of smartphone filmmaking, using smartphones to shoot both films and commercials. He is the founder of content creation studio Treehouse Creative, the Pocket Film Academy and The Filmbreaker Movement. His film Mankind is No Island, shot on Jason’s Nokia N95 back in 2008, cost a total of A$57 to produce. It went on to nab the top prize worth $20,000 at Tropfest New York that same year.

The masterclass is a part of the 2020 Script to Screen Film Workshop programme, held by the Motion Picture Association (MPA) in co-ordination with the US Mission to Việt Nam and Việt Nam Film Development Association (VFDA).

The agenda will include messages from Ambassador Dan Kritenbrink and MPA Chairman Charles Rivkin. Presenters Genderen, film critic Ngô Phương Lan and producer Stephen Jenner, representative of the MPA in Asia Pacific will deliver pocket guide to re-imagine filmmaking with a simple smartphone film kit. – VNS