Night Fishing – 100% iPhone made Film Awarded at Berlinale

Berlinale has awarded Korean director Park Chan-wook for his latest flick Night Fishing, which is completely filmed through the lens of an iPhone 4.

The Golden Bear award in the short film competition at the 61st Berlinale went to the 33-minute film , which was shot on an Apple iPhone 4 by renowned director Park Chan-wook and his younger brother Park Chan-kyong. The world's first ever smartphone movie won the Golden Bear of the Best Film award of the Berlinale Shorts Competition section.  Turbulent was praised for its recording effects as well as imaging techniques.

“My heart is swelling over all of the interest and support that have both exceeded my expectations,” Park said upon receiving the award. He said he would like to return this honor to all of those who helped create this movie, which alternates between fantasy - a fisherman played by Oh Kwang-rok netting the body of a shaman dressed in white played by Lee Jung-hyun -- and reality, where Lee performs a ritual for the drowned fisherman.

But some critics are wary of praising "Night Fishing" as a revolutionary breakthrough in filmmaking, as its production and budget were not much different from those made with film cameras. Due to some technological limitations, especially for the night scenes, the brothers had to rely on professional lighting and filming equipment as well as makeup and special effects. Some also point out that its success was only possible with the sponsorship of a large corporation like mobile operator KT. It took 50 days, W150 million, and a crew of 80 to make the film. In contrast, most of the other shorts submitted to the iPhone 4 Film Festival held last October had a budget of W3 to 5 million, a crew of 10 and three to five days to complete.

Park has filmed everything from night to underwater scenes with the iPhone 4. One of the most acclaimed and popular filmmakers in Korea, Park is most known for his Joint Security Area,Thirst and the Vengeance Trilogy, consisting of the 2002 Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, the 2003 Oldboy and the 2005 Sympathy for Lady Vengeance.

You can see the trailer of "Night Fishing" right here.

The 61st edition of Berlin Film Festival was held from February 10 to 20, 2011