This is a way to upload a file manually in Symfony 1.4. ie: without going through the forms framework.
foreach ($request->getFiles() as $fileName) {
$fileSize = $fileName['size'];
$fileType = $fileName['type'];
$theFileName = $fileName['name'];
$uploadDir = sfConfig::get("sf_upload_dir");
$Contacts_uploads = $uploadDir.'/contacts_uploads';
if(!is_dir($Contacts_uploads))
mkdir($Contacts_uploads, 0777);
move_uploaded_file($fileName['tmp_name'], "$Contacts_uploads/$theFileName");
}