The rules are simple

1. Your film must be shot entirely on a smartphone or tablet. The only exception is a small amount of drone footage or Go Pro footage or archival footage may be used in your film. The amount is discretionary but must be an insignificant amount of your film and used only sparingly.
2. Films for the SF3 Official Selection Gala Awards must be no longer than 20 minutes including titles and credits. There is no minimum time limit.
3. Films for our feature film category must be a minimum of 30 minutes in length, no maximum time limit.
4. Films for our Mini Category must be a maximum of 3 minutes including titles and credits and our theme for 2024 is Forward. This is merely a jumping off point and can be interpreted as you like. You also do not have to use this prompt if you so wish.
5. Films for our new AI category must be written by a writer and AI used to create your film.
6. Films for our new Social Media Category must have been shot on a smartphone or tablet for social media only.
7. SF3 accepts any and all genres, except X rated films and excessive gratuitous violence.
8. All scripts and ideas must be your original material.
9. Copyright material can only be used if you have written permission to do so, and we can ask at anytime to see this permission.
10. You can use any software or apps to edit your video and audio, and can edit on any device.
11. You can use any software for colour correction or special effects.
12. You can use external microphones, lenses, lighting, tripods, etc.
13. Your film must meet all the terms and conditions of the festival to be eligible.
14. The judges’ decisions are final and no correspondence will be entered into regarding film selections and prize winners.
15. SF3 Kids Category and Competition is for Australian and International filmmakers aged 18 years and under at the time of filming. A kids film for the purposes of SF3 is a film who’s director and at least one other key creative role are 18 years or under at the time of filming. All other roles on the film, including the DOP and actors and editors may include people of all ages, however, the film must be the idea of a filmmaker 18 years and under and all concepts of editing, camera angles and all other relevant artistic choices must be primarily decided upon by the filmmaker or group of filmmakers 18 years and under who enters the film.
16. The SF3 Kids category has a maximum time limit of 10 minutes. However, if you feel that your film must be longer than 10 minutes but less than 20 minutes, then you may still enter your film of more than 10 minutes and it will be considered for our SF3 Kids Finals, however, the film must be exceptional and the extra time limit justified.
17. SF3 is open to filmmakers from every country.
18. Films will be accepted from filmmakers of every age.
19. The WIFT NSW Award is for the Best Female Identifying Creative, decided by our judges, who worked on one of our Official Selection films in a crew capacity, not limited to the producer, writer, DP, etc. The director of each film will be asked to nominate an outstanding female that worked on their film, and this can include themselves.
20. The SF3 Community Award is for a film which showcases stories, actors and/or people that are under-represented on our screens and showcases them in a moving, positive, or special way. This will be decided by our judging panel.
21. The Luma Touch Finished on Mobile Award is for a smartphone film that must be both completely shot and edited on smartphones or tablets only. You may use any editing program, but you must show us evidence that it was edited on a device; evidence includes screenshots of you editing or a short BTS of you editing the film.
22. The SF3 First Nations Award is open to filmmakers who identify as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander or Indigenous from all around the world.
23. All feature film entries must never have had a public screening in Sydney, Australia, to be eligible for entry.
24. In special circumstances archival footage may be used in a very minimal amount to add context or needed substance to your film. You must email us at sf3@sf3.com.au for permission.
25. If your film is selected to screen at SF3 2024, you must remove your film from anywhere that it is show online for the duration of the festival. You may make it private but your film can not be publicly viewable online until the completion of the 2024 festival.
26. You may also be required to provide Actor Release Forms to be signed by the people appearing in your film.
27. Foreign films are welcome in any language, but you are required to add the subtitles in English. These must be a part of the film and not on a separate file.
28. All content submitted must be in accordance with the law and any perceived illegal activity will be reported to the appropriate authorities.
29. If your film is selected as a finalist for our SF3 Screenings, then you may be required to submit 30 seconds of RAW footage as proof that you shot your film on a smartphone or tablet. Your film must also be submitted in 16:9 ratio and in a non-compressed format. We recommend an MP4, Apple Pro Res or Quicktime file, the largest size possible, with a constant frame rate and Stereo 48kHz sound so it will look good on the big cinema screen.
30. Your film can have screened in other film festivals, just as long as you have never entered it into SF3 (unless approved by festival directors at their discretion).
31. The cost of entry to SF3 2023 is $20 standard fee and $15 student fee. Feature film entry fee is $40. And $10 for SF3 Mini, $20 for our AI Award and $10 for our Best Social Media Award. You can pay via credit card or Paypal. If you need another payment method or are having trouble with payment please contact us at sf3@sf3.com.au
32. You can enter as many films as you like.
33. If anyone is found to have broken any of the rules then you may be disqualified from the festival at the discretion of the panel.
34. By entering SF3, you agree to allow your film to be screened as part of our festival if selected as well as any subsequent tours of our program.
35. By entering, you agree to allow SF3 to distribute your film to a third party, such as Etihad’s inflight entertainment network which picked up our 2018 & 2019 Gala films. Your film’s producer will be consulted on any deals and we will never distribute your film without complete permission and agreeance to do so. If no suitable agreement can be found, then we will not include your film in the distribution. This in no way impacts your entry in to SF3 itself.
36. The SF3 & Black Magic Camera Award (for a film shot using the Black Magic Cam App) is a film up to 20 minutes for our Gala Awards Category or up to 10 minutes for our SF3 Kids Awards that is shot on a smartphone in the Black Magic Camera App. You can edit this film on any device and with any software and it is also eligible for all of our Gala Awards or SF3 Kids Awards. NB: We have three prizes in this category – one of our Gala and two in our Kids Category (for a Primary School and a High School Film). 

The submission deadline for the 10th Annual SmartFone Flick Fest is 11:49PM AEST, September 1, 2024.

How to Enter SF3

Enter using our submission form, or if you prefer to pay in US dollars then submit via Film Freeway.