vivo collaborates with FIRST Youth Film Exhibition to hold the fourth edition of the Super Short Film Premiere and Awards Ceremony

Vivo partners with FIRST Youth Film Exhibition for the 4th Super Short Film Premiere and Awards Ceremony

【phoneauto News】On July 29, 2023, the vivo x FIRST Short Film Premiere and Awards Ceremony was held in Xining. The event showcased 20 short films, with “Father’s Monologue” directed by Wang Guofan winning the Annual Short Film award. Director Shen Di won the vivo Mobile Phone Creation Award for “Baby”; Director Wang Yueyang’s “She Went to Work” received the Jury Award; Director Cui Binglin’s “Come Here” won the Visual Exploration Award; Director Xiao Zihang’s “Two Orioles Singing in the Willow” and Director Lv Bowen’s “Fireworks Youth” as well as Director Li Yue’s “All Roads Are Not Far” received Special Mention from the jury.

Premiere and Awards Ceremony Venue

Song Wen, founder of the FIRST Youth Film Exhibition, Jia Jingdong, Vice President of vivo brand, Xie Fei, Honorary Chairman of FIRST, judges Chen Zhengdao, Du Kefeng, Liu Qing, Song Jia, and guests including actors Ma Yili, Zhang Xiaofei attended the event.

At the screening venue, Song Wen, founder of the FIRST Youth Film Exhibition, gave a speech: “The Short Film Competition unit advocates five-minute storytelling and lightweight shooting. Over the past four years, it has gradually influenced the daily creative process of creators and is consolidating and establishing a unique ‘short film’ visual standard. This is the change and possibility brought about by the team and vivo’s partnership in the short film field over the past four years.”

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Speech by Song Wen, founder of the FIRST Youth Film Exhibition

Vivo Vice President Jia Jingdong reviewed the original intention and four-year journey of Vivo’s collaboration with FIRST to create the ultra-short film unit in his speech at the event. He said, “Vivo has always believed in the spirit of being true to oneself. Being true to oneself means finding the true passion and belief in one’s heart, and expressing it through imagination and creativity. We hope to leave the complex parameters and technology to Vivo, so that creators can focus on the images in the lens and concentrate on expressing the story they want to tell. Back to first, lean to future. May all our creators return to their original aspirations and move towards the future.”

Speech by Vivo Vice President Jia Jingdong

Liu Qing, a judge and scholar of the ultra-short film unit, said, “In this year’s ultra-short film unit, I have seen and especially appreciated that every young person now has their own strong personal history. This is a characteristic of our era, and at the same time, they have expressed their concern for the overall society through personal expressions. They are not like fully conceived mature artists, but more like writers who use film language to express themselves with great precision and depth of meaning. The younger generation is the native people of the visual era, and they use images to write, which is a new culture.”

Speech by Judge Liu Qing

Vivo has collaborated with FIRST Youth Film Festival for the fourth time to launch the ultra-short film unit, and has received increasingly more complete five-minute films that deeply reflect on individuals, life, society, and the era, leaving a unique cultural imprint on the era of mobile imaging.

The annual ultra-short film “Father’s Monologue” showcases the complex aspects of family relationships through the monologue of a father captured in a fixed long shot. The trajectory of the era is revealed through individual narratives. The close-ups of the father’s face, filled with grievances, resentment, and confusion, have a greater impact, and the light touch at the end adds a lingering charm to the film.

Annual Short Film “Father’s Monologue” Awards

The work “Baoer” which won the vivo Mobile Creation Award focuses on the special moment of preparing the speech before the wedding. The short film was shot by Cannes-nominated director Shendi using the vivo X90 Pro+ mobile phone. In the dim and backlit environment, as the camera and eyes gaze simultaneously, the misunderstood emotions gradually emerge, showing another possibility of family relationships.

vivo Mobile Creation Award “Baoer” Awards

The grand prize-winning work “She Went to Work” showcases the typical life of a young urban couple. Living in Beijing, commuting is the most familiar shuttle in the bustling streets. The swaying of riding a bicycle is the romance of young life. The helplessness of life and the hope for the future are narrated in a delicate monologue.

Grand Prize “She Went to Work” Awards

The newly established Image Exploration Award is presented to the film “Lalie” created by director Cui Binglin. The village’s primary school has turned into a nursing home twenty years later. In the repeated opening of the door by the gatekeeper and the unchanged greetings, the film effortlessly presents two social issues that exist in different eras yet are interconnected.

Image Exploration Award “Lalie” Awards

The Short Film Jury unanimously praised and encouraged “The Two Orioles Singing in the Willow”, “Fireworks Youth”, and “No Road is Far”, and awarded these three films with a special mention from the jury.

The judging panel specially mentioned the awards for the honor of “Two Orioles Singing in the Green Willow”, “Fireworks Youth”, and “All Roads Are Not Far”.

In this edition of ultra-short films, post-00 creators accounted for 50% of the total number of people, and the finalists’ group portraits were also more diverse, including cultural workers such as anthropologists and podcast hosts, as well as practitioners from different social fields such as kindergarten teachers, fitness coaches, and engineers. The concept of “everyone is a creator” is receiving widespread response and practice.

In the fourth year of the ultra-short film section, mobile phones have gradually become the main tool for short film creation. The proportion of ultra-short films shot with mobile phone participation has increased from 21% in the first year to 58%. As a lightweight imaging tool, mobile phones have begun to play a leading role in shaping the landscape of contemporary image production. This change is due to the continuous development and iteration of mobile imaging technology.

Among the selected ultra-short films, 5 works were shot using vivo smartphones. The outstanding mobile imaging capabilities of vivo smartphones fully empower the expression of creators’ works. Among them, in the scene where the mother in “Bao’er” repeatedly polishes the speech for her daughter’s wedding under dim lights, the emotional performance is brought to life with the powerful 4K ultra-sense night vision and exquisite night scene video support of the vivo X90 Pro+ smartphone. In “All Roads Are Not Far”, the protagonist’s emotional surges in the inner world while running in the woods are excellently presented with the video super anti-shake and exquisite night scene video functions supported by the vivo X90 Pro+ smartphone.

The excellent visual performance of the vivo X90 Pro+ smartphone’s Zeiss one-inch large sensor and Zeiss T* optical lens endows the story of the little boy fighting with “ghosts” and protecting his parents in “Home Alone” with vivid expressiveness. “Ostrich Oasis”, a bizarre story that takes place in a small convenience store space, is completed with the support of the vivo X90 Pro+ Zeiss quad-camera, fully demonstrating the narrative potential of mobile phones as lightweight shooting tools.

As an innovative promoter in the field of mobile imaging, vivo will continue to deepen the practice of imaging culture, empowering the public to record their own stories with constantly evolving imaging technology. In the future, vivo looks forward to joining hands with more like-minded people to express and create freely and joyfully, continuously cultivating this fertile land of infinite possibilities for short films, and jointly shaping and witnessing the future of mobile imaging.

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