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Oscar winner Charlie Kaufman shot a short film entirely with a Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra

By Adrian Diaconescu

Published: Jan 17, 2023, 5:17 AM

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Oscar winner Charlie Kaufman shot a short film entirely with a Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra

You know those stunning "Shot on iPhone" commercials and short films Apple has been using to highlight the incredible cinematic video recording skills of its handsets for several years now?

Samsung has actually done a couple of similar publicity stunts of its own recently, giving among others an opportunity to "Stranger Things" star Millie Bobby Brown to make her directorial debut shortly after the launch of the Galaxy S22 series in early 2022.

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The S22 Ultra's super-advanced camera is in the spotlight again, and although the timing feels a little odd with the ultra-high-end S23 family around the corner and the S23 Ultra's 200MP shooter officially unveiled earlier today, the name of the filmmaker in charge with the latest "shot-on-phone" experiment is way too big to go unnoticed.

Yes, Charlie Kaufman has a bit more experience behind (conventional) cameras than Millie Bobby Brown, having won an Academy Award for writing the original screenplay of "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" back in 2005 and directing the critically acclaimed "Anomalisa" and "I'm Thinking of Ending Things" in the last decade.

Given his very... eclectic and unconventional filmography, you probably never expected to see Kaufman directing a Samsung commercial. Which is why it seems pretty safe to predict that "Jackals & Fireflies" will be nothing like anything we've seen come out of a mobile device before.

This is almost certainly a "proper" short film that Charlie Kaufman undoubtedly believed in, joining forces with the cinematographer behind such feature films as "Blonde" and "BlacKkKlansman" to ensure his unique vision will accurately and meticulously be delivered to the public using nothing but a Galaxy S22 Ultra... and a bunch of additional "professional equipment" and "professional" editing software.

Unfortunately, "Jackals & Fireflies" is not actually out yet, nor does it have an official release date attached to its catchy name, but both the 30-second trailer and 100-second behind-the-scenes video embedded above look absolutely and positively great. Admit it, you'd never think these were captured on a phone if you didn't know the setup beforehand.

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Adrian, a mobile technology enthusiast since the Nokia 3310 era, has been a dynamic presence in the tech journalism field, contributing to Android Authority, Digital Trends, and Pocketnow before joining PhoneArena in 2018. His expertise spans across various platforms, with a particular fondness for the diversity of the Android ecosystem. Despite the challenges of balancing full-time parenthood with his work, Adrian's passion for tech trends, running, and movies keeps him energized. His commitment to mid-range smartphones has led to an eclectic collection of devices, saved from personal bankruptcy by his preference for 'adequate' over 'overpriced'.