The UnLonely Film Festival: Best of Fest
I Forgot My Phone
About the Filmmaker
Charlene deGuzman is a writer and actor who first garnered attention from tweeting her self-deprecating thoughts as @charstarlene. Rolling Stone named her one of the “Funniest People on Twitter Right Now.” She went on to write and star in her own short films, and her most popular one, “I Forgot My Phone,” has over 51 million views on YouTube and was featured in The New York Times, USA Today, Time, NPR, Good Morning America, and The Today Show.
Charlene is an advocate for self-love and bringing awareness to sex and love addiction. She speaks publicly about her recovery and has her own advice column with FLOOD magazine. Charlene wrote her first feature film, Unlovable, which premiered at SXSW in 2018 and received special jury recognition. It stars Charlene, John Hawkes, and Melissa Leo, and was produced by the Duplass Brothers. www.charstarlene.com. Miles Crawford began filmmaking, initiated by his professional career in music and theatre: where he performed Off-Broadway and internationally toured with STOMP.
As a musician, he drummed alongside Eminem, Ringo Starr, Art Garfunkel, Darwin Deez, Bronagh Gallagher, and others. His directional debut, music video DNA was nominated for a UK MVA. Collaborative shorts with Charlene deGuzman: I Forgot My Phone has over 51M views, receiving attention from news outlets around the world; and Drum-Off, was featured at LACMA’s Young Directors Night. Miles is Associate Producer of the feature film Crown Heights – winner of the Audience Award at Sundance 2017. He finds inspiration working with young artists as a director and choreographer in Los Angeles for SMMUSD and THEATRE 31, and in Brazil with the non-profit Quabales. He is currently writing a feature film. www.giantmiles.com
Dive Even Deeper
Try the following to connect further with the film’s story…
Live the film by putting your phone away for one day
- Choose an upcoming day where you’ll be out in your community and experience being disconnected digitally. What do you notice? How was your day different from your usual experiences with your phone? What do you miss? Is it an overall positive or negative experience?
- Share your observations and the story of your day by posting in the comments below.
awesome reminder of the importance to experiencing real life-Not living virtually
I went to a concert and noticed so many people had their phones out recording the concert instead of just looking at the people directly performing they were looking through their phone. I feel like we should just enjoy the moment and remember with your mind. The people performing I sure would like it if you were paying attention to them.
I see this becoming more and more common every day. This can make people feel very unimportant and lonely despite how many people are with them. So sad!
We should enjoy more with the people around us, not just being on the phone.
i am aware of how much i am, and other people my age/generation are, on our phones. i try to be present and in the moment and see how i would never use my phone in some of the circumstances shown in the video, but i also know that i am not too far from that – and it makes me self conscious and uncomfortable!
I agree that being with people while they’re are on their phones can be one of the most utterly rejecting experiences in life. It’s as if the other person doesn’t even want to waste their words telling you that they find everyone else more interesting than you.
Reminder that we miss so much if glued to our phones
Time to live in the present
Interesting look at the impact that being on our phones has on the people around us.
It really made me realize how addicted I have become to my phone and how much I am missing out on the moments and experiences that are happening right before me.
Ahh! I hate cell phones and I want to throw mine away after watching this. Watching the young girl sitting on the swing and not swinging is so depressing!
This is why I hate technology! Too easily accessible. Missing out on personal life events.
It made me realize that people nowadays can not live without cell phones. Cell phone can be convenient like taking picture on Birth Day party but people should put the phone down when going to bowling
i def agree