Double Consciousness wins Mobile Phone Film Festival: five films made with a phone

On 23 October, five short films about inclusion, identity and discrimination premiered in Utrecht. Tomásio Costa won the Audience Award and the Jury Award with Double Consciousness. Watch all the films.

Five filmmakers, five phones and five stories that often go unheard. On Friday 23 October the films of the GenInclusion Mobile Phone Film Festival 2026 premiered in Utrecht, during Black Achievement Month. The big winner of the evening was Double Consciousness by Tomásio Costa. His film received both the Audience Award and the Jury Award.

Filming with what is already in your pocket

The idea behind the festival is simple. Everyone looks at the world in their own way, and those different perspectives lead to more understanding. You do not need an expensive camera for that. The participants learned to film with their own smartphone.

Omroep AfroNet provided the training. In July there were three training days: first about the story, then about light, sound and camera work, and finally about editing in CapCut. After that the filmmakers kept working on their own film until October.

The winner: Double Consciousness

In Double Consciousness a Black man is locked out of his own apartment. Does he climb up to his second floor balcony, or look for another way in? What seems like a small problem becomes an inner struggle. How will the neighbours see him hanging there? The film shows how racism weighs in on ordinary choices, and how exhausting it is to keep seeing yourself through someone else's eyes.

Tomásio Costa comes from São Tomé and Príncipe and lived in Portugal for years. He works as a poet, musician and radio maker, and is creative director at Omroep AfroNet.

Four other films

What's Going on There? by Wen is about the everyday racism many East Asian people face. Small moments that keep nagging, always with the same question: am I overreacting, or was this really racism?

In Voorbij je bubbel (Beyond your bubble), Gabriela hesitates whether to say something when fellow participants in a workshop speak negatively about the LGBTQ+ community. She does it anyway, and it makes someone else think.

Victim of circumstance is the personal story of Abdul Salam, who tried to help a friend and was then blamed himself. In Mijn ziel stottert niet (My soul does not stutter), Aida talks about stuttering, her multicultural background and the wish to be herself. About what can hide behind a smile.

Watch the films

All five films are now on the MPFF programme page at Omroep AfroNet. The festival is an initiative of Art.1 Midden Nederland and Discriminatie.nl Provincie Utrecht, together with the City of Utrecht, and is part of GenInclusion, the Discriminatie.nl programme that puts young people at the centre.

Have you experienced discrimination yourself? You can report it to Discriminatie.nl Provincie Utrecht, anonymously if you wish, via the free number 0800 0880.

Bronnen

• GenInclusion: Mobile Phone Film Festival 2026
• GenInclusion: foto's van de première