Schoolgirl's iPhone scary movie scores top film award nomination
Between homework and her fast-food job, meet the 16-year-old Australian teen who has made Australian film awards history with a scary movie she shot entirely on her smartphone
READING LEVEL: GREEN
A film shot using nothing but an iPhone and made by a Sydney teenager is the first short of its kind to be nominated for one of Australia’s most prestigious* film and television awards.
The scary movie titled Don’t Ignore Me was directed by then-15-year-old Charli Fletcher between school, homework and two part-time jobs.
It has now been nominated in the short film category of the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards (AACTA), and is the first film shot on a mobile phone to score a nomination in the category.
The Randwick High School Year 10 student said she was “so honoured” to be considered for an AACTA Award and was in disbelief when she got the call.
“I was shocked, I was like ‘this isn’t real’,” she told The Daily Telegraph.
“Coming from just shooting little silly videos with my friends and family and now being in this prestigious event, it’s insane and feels surreal*,” she said.
“It is, in Australia, one of the biggest awards that we can get. It’s all the way up there.”
Charli’s work is up against short films starring high-profile Aussie actors including Hollywood actor Damon Herriman, and Shabana Azeez, who recently played a significant role in US drama The Pitt, which cleaned up at the Emmys*.
Starring as the “monster” in Charli’s film is her “scary” younger sister Neave, who was transformed with layers of makeup as part of the production.
The short film is about a young woman (Rosangela Fasano) who is obsessed with her phone and becomes “sucked into it by a dark entity*,” Charli said.
“As a 16-year-old girl, I see so many of my friends getting lost in their phones, just swept into social media (and) scrolling for hours and hours,” she said.
“Because we love horror so much, me and my family, putting a little horror twist on it was a fun idea for us.”
After working two part-time jobs including one at McDonald’s, completing Year 10 and directing her own award-nominated film, Charli is hopeful her mum – who collaborated with her on the film — will let her attend the red carpet event on the Gold Coast.
“Mum, this is massive, this is big!” she said. “You’ve got to let me go.”
The awards are peer-assessed by AACTA members, with the next round of voting opening December 6.
Previous AACTA Award-winners across categories include such household names as Cate Blanchett, George Miller, Russell Crowe, Nicole Kidman and Hugo Weaving.
The AACTA Award ceremony will be held at Surfers Paradise on February 7, 2026.
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GLOSSARY
- prestigious: very much respected and admired
- surreal: strange, not seeming real, like a dream
- entity: something that exists apart from other things, having its own independent existence
- Emmys: annual awards run by the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences for outstanding achievements in American television programming, production or performance
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QUICK QUIZ
- What character does Charli’s sister play in the film?
- Who are some of very well known Aussie actors who have won AACTA awards previously?
- What is the title of the film?
- What did Charli use to film her movie?
- What real life experiences inspired the film?
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CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
1. Movie-makers
If you were a professional filmmaker, using hi-tech equipment, what would you say were the main disadvantages of shooting a short film with an iPhone rather than movie-making technology?
Do you think more movies will be made using phones and smaller, less expensive equipment in the future? Explain your reasons.
Time: allow 10 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English, Digital Technologies, Personal and Social, Critical and Creative Thinking
2. Extension
Do you think Charli’s mum should let her attend the award ceremony on the Gold Coast?
Write a paragraph to her mum, stating the reasons why she should or shouldn’t go to the ceremony.
Time: allow 10 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English, the Arts, Personal and Social, Critical and Creative Thinking
VCOP ACTIVITY
Imaginative dialogue
Imagine you were there during the event being discussed in the article, or for the interview.
Create a conversation between two characters from the article – you may need or want to include yourself as one of the characters. Don’t forget to try to use facts and details from the article to help make your dialogue as realistic as possible.
Go through your writing and highlight any punctuation you have used in green. Make sure you carefully check the punctuation used for the dialogue and ensure you have opened and closed the speaking in the correct places.