Director Michel Gondry Delivers Tender Short Film Entirely Shot with an iPhone

The 10-minute short film called Détour is part of Apple’s advertising campaign for the iPhone 7 aiming to demonstrate the quality of the video it produces and how creative one can get with it.

Famous for his indie-looking movies Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (for which he won an Oscar) and Be Kind Rewind, French director Michel Gondry proves with this adorable production that being a great artist doesn’t depend on the size of your gear.

Super creative, Détour follows a French family (don’t worry, the video has subtitles) as they go on a holiday trip to the south of France. Left behind by accident, the red tricycle of the youngest of the bunch begins a journey, filled with adventure, to find its way back to its owner.

Influenced by the work of Jacques Tati and Georges Melies, Gondry’s film conveys the message that aspiring directors shouldn’t wait for the right time or the right equipment to start their career. All you need is a phone and your imagination!

Commissioned by Apple U.K., Détour is available online for free since yesterday. On the website of the tech company, fans and novices can discover tips for shooting on an iPhone in a section called Through the Eyes of Michel Gondry. Made of short videos, the page reveals the many techniques used by the director to get the effect desired on set, like slo-mo, time-lapse or stop motion. In the clips – with his beautiful, husky French accent – Gondry describes step by step how to get the same results as in his film.

Got an iPhone and a passion for filmmaking? Then you know what to do!