The 2015 independent film shot using three iPhone 5S smartphones was Tangerine.
Sean Baker directed Tangerine, a fast-moving Los Angeles story about a transgender sex worker searching for her cheating boyfriend on Christmas Eve. Baker and cinematographer Radium Cheung used three iPhone 5S phones to capture the film, turning a severe equipment limitation into a distinctive visual style.
The production used the FiLMiC Pro app to control focus, exposure-related settings, color temperature, and recording quality. Anamorphic lens adapters from Moondog Labs created the film’s widescreen look, while a Steadicam Smoothee helped produce smooth moving shots. The equipment savings could instead support extras and locations.
Tangerine premiered at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival and became a landmark example of smartphone filmmaking. Its low-budget production method is sometimes confused with Unsane, another notable iPhone-shot feature, but Tangerine specifically used three iPhone 5S smartphones and was released first.