Posts By Dave Bonta

Dave Bonta is a poet, editor, and web publisher from the Appalachian mountains of central Pennsylvania.

Everything sleeps but the night by Matt Hetherington

On 13 September, 2017 by Dave Bonta with 0 Comments - Videopoems
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Marie Craven‘s latest poetry film uses a text and voiceover from fellow Australian Matt Hetherington over a collage of images from hither and yon (see Vimeo for the credits).

What is a soul? by Luisa A. Igloria

On 12 September, 2017 by Dave Bonta with 0 Comments - Videopoems
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I recently returned to Pennsylvania after a summer in London, and on my way out of Newark, New Jersey, I shot a brief cellphone video through the dusty window of a Greyhound bus, capturing some remarkable murals on a wall beneath a train line. After I got home and recovered from jet-lag a bit, it occurred to me that the footage might make an interesting pairing with a short poem by Luisa A. Igloria, which she’d just posted to the literary blog we share, Via Negativa. Footage shot from car, bus and (especially) train windows is of course exceedingly common in videopoetry, but I’m hoping my use of moving text saves this instance of it from cliché. I liked the juddering racket of the bus, preserving it as-is in the soundtrack even after I slowed the clip down.

When a Wiggly-Monster Was My World by David Olimpio

On 31 August, 2017 by Dave Bonta with 1 Comments - Animation
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An animated poem with text and voiceover by David Olimpio and animation and direction by Efrat Dahan. It was made as part Moving Words, a project from the New Jersey-based organization ARTS By The People pairing American writers with animators from the Shenkar School of Engineering and Design in Tel Aviv. The international premiere of the 2017 animations in Tel Aviv has already happened (August 11), but the US premiere is still up-coming on Sept. 9 at Drew University. (Reserve tickets.) Olimpio told me in an email:

What ABTP is trying to do with the “Moving Words” project is to not only make these stand-alone animation pieces, but also to integrate them with live performances. Here’s the video of me performing this piece live at the Animix Animation Festival in Tel Aviv, where this animation was one of many featured the day before.

Integrating multimedia with live readings is something poets don’t do nearly enough, in my view, and I’ve also long felt that there ought to be more efforts to get university film and animation students to collaborate with poets, so I was excited to learn about Moving Words. (I also really like their name, for some reason.)

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Fucking Him by C.O. Moed and Adrian Garcia Gomez

On 30 August, 2017 by Dave Bonta with 0 Comments - Author-made videopoems
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“Love and fucking may sometimes be the same. But not when it counts,” reads the synopsis for this 2015 poetry film directed jointly by Claire Olivia (C.O.) Moed and Adrian Garcia Gomez.

Last year, Fucking Him won Best Experimental Film at the Manhattan Independent Film Festival and Curator’s Choice for Best Sound/Music at Rabbit Heart Poetry Film Festival, was the Grand Prix Winner for Found Footage at the 2015 Interference Festival in Gdansk, and has been screened in a number of other festivals as well.

Liverpool Disappears for a Billionth of a Second by Paul Farley

On 29 August, 2017 by Dave Bonta with 0 Comments - Videopoems
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A black-and-white poetry film from 2011 which somehow escaped my attention until now. Paul Farley recites his poem in the soundtrack. The film was edited by Sam Meech, one of four people who share the credit for making the film. The others are Tim Brunsden, Steve Clarkson and Markus Soukup.

This was actually the second film to be made with this poem. The first came out in 2009, a performance-style video imaginatively shot by Paul Beasely.

(Hat-tip: ZEBRA Poetry Film Club.)

Call for submissions: 2017 Button Poetry Video Contest

On 11 August, 2017 by Dave Bonta with 1 Comments - calls for work, contests

For the second year in a row, Button Poetry, producers of arguably the most popular English-language poetry channel on YouTube, are holding a video contest. Submissions opened on August 1, but I just got wind of it. You have until September 15 to submit. I’ll paste in the details from Submittable:

We are thrilled to announce our second annual open-submission video contest! Our chapbook contest will be happening in winter this year (opening November 15th).

Over the past years, we here at Button have realized the limited nature of filming at poetry tournaments and slams. There are so many other ways to record and present poetry beyond a slam setting, so we decided to give people around the world the chance to step up on the digital stage and share their work.

Submissions to the Video Contest will be open from August 1st to September 15th. All videos submitted will be considered for publication, not just the winner and runners-up.

We are looking for work that crosses borders or effaces them completely, work that enters into larger social conversations, work that lives in the world, work with a strong, unique voice and palpable energy.

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Open to EVERYONE age 16 and older!

Prize: The winner’s video along with the videos of 5 runners-up will be featured across Button’s social media. The winner will receive a $250 honorarium and the runners-up will each receive $100.

Entry Fee: $7 (or $12 for two videos)

Special Discount: Youth (ages 16-20) and international submitters can submit single video submissions for a discounted price of $5.

All entrants will receive 15% off any purchase from the Button Website.

Timeline: The contest will open on August 1st and close at 11:59 PM CST on September 15th.

Eligibility: The competition is open to poets worldwide age 16+ (NOTE: poets under 18 would need a signed parental/guardian release form before being run — this will be dealt with after videos have been selected for publication). We will accept any poetry performance or poetry short film in any language (as long as non-English videos come equipped with English subtitles). Videos that have been previously published elsewhere are eligible, with the understanding that any selected video may need to be taken down from other locations on the internet.

Guidelines: Submit one or more videos (1 to 5 minutes in length, <1GB) via the online submission manager on this page. Most common video file-types are accepted.

What We Like: We value energy and voice and force, work that crosses borders or effaces them completely, work that enters into larger social conversations, work that lives in the world, work with calloused hands and a half-empty stomach. We think poetry is and ought to be part of our everyday lives and culture.
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Note: You MUST own the complete, transferable rights to ALL elements of the submission, including text, audio, and video.

Tech: While video and audio quality will be one factor in the judging process, the quality of the poem and performance themselves will be weighted much more heavily. That said, if possible, please use high-quality audio and video. If you’re filming this yourself on a smartphone or similar, try to do it inside, somewhere well-lit, without background noise, etc. If you’re using a video of a live performance, for example from an open mic or slam, take care with audio.

Collaborative poems are fine.

Process: Members of the Button Poetry staff will review all submissions to determine the winner, runners up, and any other videos we may be interested in running!

For questions, email contest@buttonpoetry.com.

Click through to submit.

Cuerpos de Agua (Water Bodies) by Lilián Pallares

On 11 August, 2017 by Dave Bonta with 0 Comments - Musical settings, Videopoems
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Half videopoem, half music video, this new film from antenablue — director Charles Olsen and poet Lilián Pallares — features Pallares acting and supplying the voiceover together with a musical arrangement of her poem by Nestor Paz and Manuel Madrid from Poesía Necesaria. Be sure to click the closed captioning (CC) icon to access Olsen’s English translation.

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Colour Poems by Margaret Tait

On 10 August, 2017 by Dave Bonta with 0 Comments - Animation, Author-made videopoems
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A classic poetry film by the Scottish filmmaker and poet Margaret Tait (1918-1999). It’s one of “Five Filmpoems: Curated by Susannah Ramsay” in the first issue of an online journal dedicated to “exploring and showcasing the milieux, methods and madnesses of contemporary poetry in all its emergent myriad forms,” All These New Relations. Ramsay has this to say about Colour Poems:

Margaret Tait was known as a filmpoet and experimental filmmaker. Her approach to filmmaking was remarkably similar to the ethos of the avant-garde, generally self-funded, non-conformist, uncompromising, non-commercial, with distribution and exhibition being select. I think Colour Poems (1974) depicts some of the more thought provoking images within her oeuvre. There is a wonderful poetical moment, which begins with the poppy fields where Tait questions the true essence of the image through juxtaposing shots of the Scottish oil industry and related capitalist iconography and a sequence of images relating to a return to the earth. Nature is brought into being through spoken word. The narrator willing the viewer to look beyond what can be seen, to ‘look into all that is illuminated by the light’ […] ‘the own person’s own self perceiving the light and making the music’ suggesting that we are the beholders of (our) true vision.

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What would you do? by PXVCE

On 9 August, 2017 by Dave Bonta with 0 Comments - Author-made videopoems
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A new video by YouTuber PXVCE, who writes in the description,

In this short piece i ask questions about the future of humanity, pointing out systematic oppression in today’s society! Encouraging listeners to wake up and reverse the cycle!

As noted in the video title, this was shot with the help of a small drone as well as a smartphone cinematography extension that sounds pretty amazing.

PXVCE describes himself as a “Cleveland born producer and artist” who “has a goal to create poetry for the culture.”

Subliminal messages embedded in his pieces often evoke medication and a state of chill. Implementing positive vibes and witty word play PXVCE offers a nostalgic style reminiscent of the Harlem Renaissance Era. While the soul takes its aural banquet from the universal language, the conscious is awakened. A Third eye is no longer dormant in the listener’s senses creating change one piece at a time ushering in new thought.

Artist as change agent is nothing new. However, it’s the way that this artist manages to use his music artistry to motivate, initiate, and spark creativity in listeners so that unity and love find a place in their lives that makes him a top-of-mind poet for this generation.

5AM by Lissa Kiernan

On 8 August, 2017 by Dave Bonta with 0 Comments - Videopoems
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A new film by Marc Neys AKA Swoon using a text and reading by American poet Lissa Kiernan, his second collaboration with her (see Witness from 2013). Marc used footage by Finn Karstens and Graham Uhelski.

Introducing the Film and Video Poetry Society

On 6 August, 2017 by Dave Bonta with 1 Comments - calls for work, conferences, festivals and other screening events, literary magazines and websites

screenshot of the front page of the Film and Video Poetry Society website

Over the past two years, a mysterious, L.A.-based group called the Film and Video Poetry Society have built up a tremendous following for their Facebook page, on which they regularly share a wide variety of poetry films and videopoems from around the web. I liked the results so much, I included the link among the short selection of recommended sites at the bottom of the front page of Moving Poems — the first and so far only time I’ve done that for a page on the ubiquitous but web-destroying colossus that is Facebook.

Well, as of August 1 I no longer have to do that, because at long last they’ve debuted their own web platform… and it’s a doozy. Features include a live, TV-like channel of poetry videos, a finishing fund and production assistance program for poetry filmmakers, poetry translation assistance, and even a plan for print publications. Perhaps of most interest to readers of Moving Poems, they are welcoming submissions of film and video projects up to 32 minutes long for a big annual symposium to be held on April 27th – 28th, 2018 in Los Angeles. It would probably be easiest if I just pasted in the text of their About page:

OUR MISSION

The Film and Video Poetry Society (FVPS) mission is to encourage film and video poets to further their ongoing explorations by providing a platform for these artists to activate, collaborate, discuss, and maintain creative work developed through the convergence of these art forms.

FVPS PROGRAMS AND INITIATIVES

Finishing Fund
The first of our initiatives is The FVPS Finishing Fund and Assistance Program. This production award will assist film and video poetry projects that have started the creative process and seek additional assistance or funds to complete the final stages of production.

Poetry Beam
We established an experimental distribution, archival, and publishing format for film and video poetry. Poetry Beam is focused on audience development, live streaming, digital curation, film and video exhibition, immersive technologies, and new methods of media licensing.

Events
The Film and Video Poetry Society is dedicated to providing a platform for oral and written literature. We are doing this by coordinating international events such as poetry slams, readings, virtual panels, writing rooms, and pop-up poetry book-shops.

Annual Symposium
FVPS is also organizing an annual symposium where we will host film screenings, workshops, and panels for a two day period each spring.

Publishing
FVPS is currently adapting two poetry films into chapbooks and has published A Guide to Film and Video Poetry festivals!  

Translations
Finally, FVPS supports language diversity. Our efforts to assist poets and filmmakers to access wider audiences and festival markets include subtitling and closed captioning assistance for films of any language.
FVPS is developing a closed captioning app to offer video editors low cost multilingual translation on an academic level.

The Film and Video Poetry Society embraces a demanding dream. We strive to balance our new world’s increased desire for visual content with our old world love for literacy, printed matter, and the poetic word.

We are deeply grateful for the poets and filmmakers who contacted us over the past year.  The contributions of your work and the many ideas you have shared inspired our team to launch this platform.

Thank you for reading our mission statement and we encourage you to explore this website.

Click through to join their mailing list and check out the site.

A small disclosure: I have been in contact with someone (not sure who) from the FVPS a couple of times, and provided a critique of the site before it went public. They assure me they will reveal their identities soon, when they unveil a masthead. I am as always happy to welcome new websites and initiatives to the international poetry film/video fold, and I’ll be watching FVPS with particular interest given their evident good taste in poetry videos, their proven ability to generate social media buzz, and their physical location near the world’s most powerful center of cinematic production. I think their primary focus on filmmakers and artists makes great practical sense, because in my experience there’s much more openness to poetry film and videopoetry in those kinds of circles than (sadly) among poets.

Call for work: 6th CYCLOP International Poetry Film Contest

On 6 August, 2017 by Dave Bonta with 3 Comments - calls for work, contests, festivals and other screening events

CYCLOP 2017 banner

On August 1, it was announced that the 6th CYCLOP Poetry Film Festival will be held on November 25-26, 2017 in Kyiv (Kiev), Ukraine. Filmmakers have until Sept. 30 to submit work. Visit their website for the rules and regulations, which I’ll also paste in below:

  • Films of up to 10 minutes duration that are no more than two years old (January 2015) may be entered.
  • There are no limitation about subject and language restrictions. All films that are not in English must have English subtitles. Each application must also contain the text of the verse in English.
  • Video can be performed in any techniques using any necessary equipment (video, animation, flash etc).
  • Each video should be placed on the Youtube channel in free access.
  • By sending your film, you confirm that the film may be shown at the CYCLOP Poetry Film Festival. The artist must have all property and screening rights.
  • Each artist can’t send more than two videos.
  • All videos must be sent with the following characteristics:
    File format: .MOV or .AVI.
    Standard: PAL. Codec: H264.
    Resolution: HD — 1920 x 1080 or 1280 x 720 (16:9) / SD — 640 x 480 (4:3) or 640 x 360 (16:9)

Click through for the entry form, names of the jury members, timeline for scoring and other information.