THE picture quality on Marcus Lee’s smartphone is, he says, better than specialist film-making equipment he owns.

So it’s no wonder the Bradford film-maker is planning to shoot his next feature film on his mobile phone.

“The smartphone is the future of film-making - there are entire Netflix films being made on iPhones,” says Marcus. “Technology is being upgraded all the time - the picture quality on my Samsung is superior to a camera I bought 10 years ago.”

Marcus is the organiser of Bradford’s first smartphone film festival, taking place this month. A highlight of Bradford City of Film’s 10th anniversary programme, the Get Smart Film Festival celebrates short films shot using mobile phones and tablets. The festival’s smartphone competition has attracted hundreds of entries, whittled down to 42 films to be screened over three days.

“There are thousands of film festivals around the world, but not smartphone festivals,” says Marcus. “It isn’t necessarily about making brilliant films; it’s about encouraging people to use what they use everyday. Whether you’re team iPhone or team Android, it doesn’t matter - you have the tools to make a film. Gone are the days when you needed an expensive camera to make a movie.

“If you’ve got access to smart technology, and most people have these days, you can make a film. It can be anything - a film about your family, a day in your life, an event you’ve been to.”

The categories are: Drama; Documentary; Best of Bradford; 60-Second Film; and Young People (18 or under). The maximum length for each film is 16 minutes (there’s also a 60-second category).

The festival runs from September 19-21 at the National Science and Media Museum and the University of Bradford. On the opening night, at the Cubby Broccoli cinema, there will be a screening of Blue Moon, a smartphone produced feature film which has had rave reviews at film festivals around the world. Directed by Stefan Harris, it’s the story of a man working at an all-night petrol station where a drug dealer carrying a large stash of cash dies, leading to chilling repercussions.

Festival director Marcus will introduce the film, and the audience will be invited to take part in a film review, via their mobile phones.

On Friday, September 20 the focus is on documentary-making. “It’s an evening of two halves,” says Marcus. “First we’ll be screening a number of short made-on-smartphone documentaries from around the world, followed by a range of short fictional entries created by independent film-makers using digital technology.

“We want to encourage our audience to think about using simple film-making methods to create their own short films.” The event will explore how documentary film-making enables people to tell stories of their own lives, highlight their communities and reach audiences using limited film production resources.

The final night of the Get Smart Film Festival will premiere fictional short films from around the world, all made on smartphones and tablets. And a panel of Bradford film-makers will share their experiences of independent filmmaking.

The finale of the festival will showcase the award-winning films of this year’s competition categories, selected by a panel of judges. One of the judges is David Wilson, director of Bradford UNESCO City of Film, who is impressed with the standard of smartphone film-making.

“There are some really good entries. Submitting work into festivals is a real step to a film-making career. Generally, winning a prize in a short film festival is the usual route for successful film-makers, so this is a very significant event,” he says. “I’m always impressed at how good the quality is on mobiles; the sound and visuals are incredible. It puts that capability in anyone’s hands, and democratises film-making. Most people have access to some kind of smart technology, and it makes film-making so accessible now.

“But it still always comes down to storytelling,” he adds. “You’ve got to have a narrative, and to think about the message you’re trying to get across. When making a short film you have to be concise - that’s a discipline in itself.”

Supported by City of Film, the smartphone film festival is run by Bradford-based Reel Street Films, which produces a range of video content, including short films, promotional and music videos, showreels and feature films.

It was set up in 2007 by Marcus, who started out making films for a hobby, using his friend’s video camera to make short films, including his sister’s wedding video. He learned much of what he knows about film-making from the internet.

“I used YouTube tutorials a lot,” says Marcus. “Using a smartphone to shoot films makes film-making more accessible, and social media reaches out to potentially millions of people.

“You can make great independent drama on a tiny budget. Look at the all the great filming that’s been taking place in Bradford - I work in Little Germany where productions like Gentleman Jack and Downton Abbey have been shot. You don’t need to be in London to make a film. And you don’t need to spend a fortune hiring a camera every day.”

He hopes the smartphone film will become an annual event. “It’s really taken off,” he says.

“It’s an amazing opportunity to see a film you’ve made on a big screen. When I was a kid, I couldn’t imagine seeing seeing my own film in a cinema.”

* The Get Smart Film Festival takes place from September 19-21. Visit getsmartfilmfest.com