The movie was written and directed by Aryan Kaganof, a filmmaker known as the first to use digital photography in a full-length feature film when that technology was new. "The camera here on the Sony Ericsson gives such extraordinary results that it would be foolhardy to not go this way with cinema," he says. Kaganof says the use of mobile phone cameras allows a startling level of intimacy for both crew and viewers of SMS Sugar Man.
"It's a very naked film - and I don't mean that the actors and actresses don't have any clothes on. It's naked in the sense that there's no distance between the director of photography and the actors and actresses - he was right on them - and he picked up on their movements and their breathing, which is something you could never do with a big ugly camera. There's a choreography, a dance going on, so there's an added intrigue, an added layer of sensuality than merely the storyline."
Mobile phones loom large in the plot of the film, as characters communicate via SMS and picture messaging.
Vodacom, owned by global giant Vodafone, is involved in the release of the short versions. Jennifer Marshall, manager for the operator's mobile media content, says the release is not an attempt to compete with Hollywood, but a necessary business maneuver. "Networks are increasingly becoming part and parcel of the entertainment industry, whether as a pipe or a production partner or a commissioning-editing type of interface. We can't afford not to be there," she says.
The return on investment is a gamble, but Marshall and Vodacom are betting on the appeal of user involvement. "It's evidence of the democratization of media production and media consumption. And if it shows people that they too, if they have the right kind of handset, could effectively create a film, then we feel we've done a bit of good."
The producers are working with Vodacom to allow just that. Jeremy Nathan, co-owner of DV8 Films which produced SMS Sugar Man, says: "In the lead-up to the release of the film on mobiles in South Africa and in the cinema, we're going to make a call to the public to send in their own films that they've made on their own mobile phones, and have a competition through that. The winning films will be put on the mobile network and people can vote as to which films they think are the best."
Niclas Medman, marketing director, Media Solutions, Ericsson, says: "This is a great example of the current 'prosumer' trend where we want to be both producers and consumers at the same time. Telecommunication networks, both mobile and fixed, provide the necessary two-way connections to make this happen on a large scale."
SMS Sugar Man is set to be released on mobile phones first, then the internet, and finally as a full-length feature in cinemas in January 2007.
