Posts By Dave Bonta
Poetry Film Club Festival and Ó Bhéal Poetry Film Festival release competition shortlists
Poetry Film Live‘s film club, which meets aboard the John Sebastian Lightship in Bristol, has released a shortlist of twelve films for their competition, to be screened in a day-long festival on October 18. Organizer Helen Dewbery released the list on her Instagram (below), posting:
Congratulations to the creators of the twelve selected poetry films. It was a difficult choice with many of the panels personal favourites not making it to the final twelve. But after over a week of viewing and discussing the panel decided on these poetry films. They will be shown at the Poetry Film Club Festival in Bristol on October 18th and the final choice will be made by the audience.
Huge thanks and appreciation to everyone who entered – I know how much work goes into researching, planning and making a poetry film or animation; sometimes many many months. And thanks also to the panel for their hardwork.
Here’s the list in text form:
Annelie Guido & David van Driel – pourakamika
Ceri Morgan – Heartlands: Earth & Bones
Claire Rosslyn Wilson – Dead Wood: Unmoored
Diek Grobler – I hav’nt told my garden yet
Greg Roensch – How Much Filipino
Heather Gregg – Res Cue
Ian Gibbins – WHY-EEELA
Jack Cockran & Pam Falkenberg – What the Thunder Said
Lee Campbell – One Day
Petra Kuppers – Lay in You Threaded: a Queer Stroke Poem
Rebecca Goldsmith – Crossing Paths
Yves (bobie) Bommenel – Tarmac GPT Blues
Tickets are available on Eventbright, whence this description:
Programme includes:
- The twelve selected Festival entries
- The Audience Award – (chosen by the audience)
- Celtic poetry films – poetry films from Ireland, Scotland and Wales
- Jane Glennie (artist and filmmaker known for her distinctive films made from sequences of still photographs) – talks on ‘Fragments and fabrications: poetry film between archives, archaeology, and AI’
- Films from the Poetry Film Collective
- Plenty of time for discussion
… and more to come.
The Lightship does not have step free access.
A few days after this announcement appeared on social media, Ó Bhéal released both shortlists in advance of its own, 13th festival: check out the Irish Poetry-Film Competition Shortlist and the International Competition Shortlist.
The Ó Bhéal Poetry Film Festival will take place on the 2nd of November at the Cork Arts Theatre, Carroll’s Quay, Cork. Here’s the poster they’ve made with all the details, for those able to attend. (The films will also all be shared online on November 3rd.)
Submissions are open for Cadence Video Poetry Festival
We missed their opening announcement back in April, but submissions are open until January 15 (late dealine; the regular deadline is December 15) for the Northwest Film Forum’s 2026 Cadence Video Poetry Festival in Seattle.
Verse meets visuals in motion during a series of cinepoem screenings, ekphrastic responses, and generative workshops celebrating National Poetry Month.
Cadence Video Poetry Festival is seeking video poems for inclusion in the April 2026 festival. Each selected video poem will receive an artist payment.
Video poetry is language as light. As an art form, video poetry is lucid and liminal—on the threshold of the literary and the moving image. It articulates the poetic image visually, rather than metaphorically—it shifts words from page to screen, from ink to light. A video poem makes meaning that would not exist if text was without image, image without text. It is language-based video work or a video-based poem. Video poetry is a literary genre presented as visual media.
Cadence showcases visual media that makes new meaning from the combination of text and moving image.
We welcome:
• Collaborations between video artists and writers;
• Video by poets creating video from, or as, their writing;
• Video artists creating poetic meaning through visual or aural text;
• Video work that’s poetically informed or poetry that’s visually informed that isn’t easily defined;
• and beyond!Any poems used for adaptations of pre-existing poetry must be in the public domain or else used with written consent of the author.
Cadence Video Poetry Festival is co-directed by Chelsea Werner-Jatzke and Rana San and hosted annually at Northwest Film Forum, satellite venues, and online.
Helen Dewbery launches Kickstarter to support publication of a guide to making poetry films
UK poetry filmmaker Helen Dewbery is turning her years of experience in creating poetry films and leading workshops into a book called How to Make a Poetry Film: A handbook for poets.
How to Make a Poetry Film is a step-by-step guide to creating a poetry film. Each chapter covers different aspects of poetry film and is designed to build skills and confidence. As you progress through the book, you’ll learn:
- where to find the tools to make films at low cost
- how to put everything together
- how to make your films stand out
The style is supportive and clearly delivered. By engaging with the fourteen activities, you will have planned and made at least one poetry film and gained the skills to make many more. All you need is a phone and a little imagination.
In the book I share with you what I have learned over fourteen years of teaching and mentoring. I have tried to bring the same ethos here that I bring to my workshops: a relaxed and enriching learning experience.
Click through to read the rest and make a donation if you’re able. Let’s hope that the situation with shipping from the UK to the US is resolved by publication time!
Single-use Plastic Bag by Abeer Ameer
UK filmmaker Janet Lees adapted a viral poem by Iraqi British poet Abeer Ameer. She told me in an email,
Like many of her poems, this has stayed with me in a visceral way since I read it. For a long time I have been wanting to make a film with Abeer’s poetry, and particularly this poem, but I couldn’t find a way in visually. Then when I was out walking by a children’s playground a few weeks ago, it became clear – I needed to encapsulate that cry we hear so often on social media, ‘What if it was your child?’
Here are the credits from Vimeo:
Based on the poem ‘Single-use Plastic Bag’, by Abeer Ameer @abeer_ameer77
Creative direction & video editing, Janet Lees
Music, ‘Dream Thieves’, Richard Quirk
Footage, Janet Lees, Motion Array & Pexels
Additional sound, freesound.org: children1.mp3 by yacou — https://freesound.org/s/190894/ — License: Creative Commons 0
Seaside Mono.wav by morganpurkis — https://freesound.org/s/402392/ — License: Creative Commons 0
Giggles.aiff by Alex_hears_things — https://freesound.org/s/457275/ — License: Creative Commons 0
Toddler Laughing.wav by Stevious42 — https://freesound.org/s/259625/ — License: Attribution 3.0
Midwest Video Poetry Fest 2025 open for submissions
Submissions to the Wisconsin-based Midwest Video Poetry Fest opened on 1 June, with a deadline of 1 December.
Though this is a screening in the Midwest, we are seeking work from poets, filmmakers and artists from around the country, and even from around the world. We are particularly interested in under-represented voices and works in any of the following categories:
Originals: Original poem and moving images created by the artist(s). Artist(s) may collaborate with each other to create the original work.
Performances: Videos that include elements of spoken word performances but are not limited to a simple recording of a reading are encouraged. Videos might include other elements such as music, animation, other footage, or special effects, to name a few.
Adaptations: The artist(s) may use a poem that exists in the public domain and/or has written permission for use of the work by the copyright holder.
Midwest’s Own: A work that significantly features the Midwest or a place within the Midwest or where the artist(s) a) lives in the Midwest at the time of their submission; b) was born in the Midwest; or c) has lived for a significant period (two years or more) in the Midwest.
Translations: Original work that an artist has translated from another language into English or English to another language. If the audio is spoken in another language, please use English subtitles as our judges are primarily English speakers.
Student Work: Work created by current students or individuals that were students when the work was created.
Poetic Videos: Work that uses poetic structures or forms or is poetically informed in some manner.
Dark by James E. Kenward
A film by Jane Glennie in collaboration with poet/performer James E. Kenward. Here’s the description from Kenward’s website:
Award-winning poetry-film director Jane Glennie came together with poet James E. Kenward on ‘Dark’, made with Jane’s unique photo-collage style. The soundtrack features a fresh piano-arrangement of Stravinsky’s ‘The Rite of Spring’ dueted with the spoken poem ‘Dark’. Jane took a year to hone her response, in the medium of light, to a poem about the dark. ‘Dark’ has gone on to play in festivals all over the world.
There is something magical in the coming together of all the different art-forms in this production.
In some ways the film provides a momentary solution to an age old puzzle that is so much a part of our lives. How to be with the dark itself? Must we always reach for the light?
Please see the interview I conducted with Kenward, where we delve into his process of musical composition for poetry films.
The making of “Dark”: an interview with James E. Kenward
British poet and filmmaker James E. Kenward has a unique approach to musical composition in his poetry films. I wanted to learn a little bit more about that…
Dave Bonta: So many otherwise brilliant poetry films are ruined for me by a faux-classical piano soundtrack—aimless major-key tinkling that many people seem to find atmospheric. I grew up listening to actual classical music, though, and this garbage drives me up the wall. So it was very gratifying to watch DARK, your collaboration with Jane Glennie, and hear classical piano perfectly matched to the mood and rhythm of the piece, leaning on some tasty dissonances—utterly haunting. The parts meshed so well, and what with focusing on the words, I didn’t even recognize that it was an adaptation of a favorite work until the last few seconds.
So what’s your secret? How are you able to achieve this balance where so many other poetry films fall short?
James E. Kenward: Rehearsal!!! For our film scores, we carefully select pieces of music that are in keeping with my poems, sometimes adapting them slightly. I then spend weeks working out how the words fit best into the music – each syllable gradually tending toward a perceived optimum. The pianist and I rehearse intensively to pin down style, dynamic shifts, and key moments, until we are at a point where we can go into the studio, look each other in the eyes, and let go! It has to sound like the vocal part was intended for the music by the composer – a libretto of sorts. It’s a long process, done with a lot of love, and I’m so glad you enjoy the results. In the specific case of ‘Dark’, my nephew Otis Kenward made the new piano arrangement of the Stravinsky at my request, because I thought the juxtaposition of Spring’s arrival with the depths of Dark would be gorgeous. There’s always a chink of light!
What Jane did with it was incredible. She made the duet a trio; when I watch it I feel like she’s jamming with us! A really great balance of artforms – she put a lot of time into considering how to portray Dark in the medium of light, which can’t have been easy! A delicate selection process, in terms of materials. Jane’s amazing. We are so glad that the film was well received in so many places.
Were music and video always a part of your live performances? How did you first get into this collaborative mode of sharing your poetry?
It starts with music and lyricism. I’ve been performing vocals with music for 25 years, having MC’d jungle drum and bass music during my teenage years and twenties, before deciding to concentrate on other forms of poetry. I also wrote and performed in the theatre, with music, and even did lyric-based comedy sketches on the BBC radio.
All the different skillsets, experiences, and people you meet along the way become part of the puzzle. When were thinking of venues to shoot my new poetry film ‘KEY – OR WHO NEEDS THE KEY’, we thought of the Hackney Empire – where I had built bonds earlier, during a musical theatre show. That film, starring T.S Eliot and Polari Prize-winner Joelle Taylor, was my production company, Layerjam’s, third film, the second being DARK, made with Jane, who saw our first film ‘BORNE’, at O-Bhéal in Cork, and approached me after the screening. Jane had the same questions as you do regarding the relationship of music and vocals. When we talked, we knew we had to make something together.
Do you have plans for more?
Our album of poetry and piano features the soundtracks for ‘KEY – OR WHO NEEDS THE KEY’, ‘DARK’ and ‘BORNE’. It goes out this November. There are several new tracks, with music from Tchaikovsky to Alexandre Skrjabin, which we would love to make into films! There will be more concerts. The album actually compliments my illustrated debut-collection Key and Other Poems, which is in the shops now.
Every track on the album is in the book. So, once the album goes out in November, you will be able to read poems that have been hand type-written, scanned, and lithographically printed next to watercolour illustrations; whilst also going to Spotify to listen to the duets, or to view the poetry-films on platforms like Moving Poems!
So thank you. It’s really wonderful to have the opportunity to share. This is a labour of love that we are passionate about. The support of those who work with poetry films, like Moving Poems, feels amazing.
‘Key and Other Poems’ is stocked in Daunt, Waterstones and independent stores. More information about connected artwork from James E. Kenward and collaborators can be found on his website.
ZEBRA Poetry Film Festival program announced
ZEBRA, the world’s most prestigious poetry film festival and competition, is fast approaching. Here’s the English version of the latest press release from Haus für Poesie:
The Zebra Poetry Film Festival will take place this year from June 5–8, running concurrently with the month-long Poesiefestival Berlin. For four days, the festival will showcase the diversity of poetry film in the Kuppelhalle at silent green.
More than 1,000 submissions from over 90 countries were received for this year’s International Competition. The competition films will be screened in two evening programs on June 6 and 7 at 7:30 PM.
In addition to the International Competition, the festival will present four thematic programs — Histories, Connections, Voices, and Hauntings— offering insight into the diversity of the poetry film scene with around 50 animations, fiction, experimental films, and documentaries. Both the films and the poems they are based on question history and current political conditions, explore identity and the ever-relevant longing for human connection, are guided by spirits, and travel through landscapes and memories. The films range from visionary dreams to clear documentary approaches — poetic and fearless.
The award ceremony for the International Competition will take place on Sunday, June 8 at 7:30 PM. Three awards totaling €9,000 will be awarded: the Zebra Award for the Best Poetry Film, the Goethe Film Award – The Art of Listening, and the Ritter Sport Film Award. The Goethe Prize will be presented by Dr. Wolf Iro, Head of Literature and Translation Promotion at the Goethe-Institut, while the Ritter Sport Prize will be awarded by Michael Edmund Böttner, Head of Bunte Schokowelt Berlin at Alfred Ritter GmbH & Co. KG. This year’s jury consists of Christine Franz (editor at ARTE, Germany), Ariane von Graffenried (poet, Switzerland), and Anne Isensee (filmmaker, Germany). In the Zebrino Competition for children and youth, an audience award will also be presented. The award ceremony will feature live music by A.S. Fanning.
The full festival program is available at: hausfuerpoesie.org.
Alert readers may have noticed that Moving Poems failed to post ZEBRA’s cfw last year — entirely my fault for not paying closer attention to my inbox! I’ll try to do better this year. Congratulations and best of luck to all the filmmakers who submitted regardless and had films accepted for screening.
Call for work: Videobardo International Videopoetry Festival
The long-running Videobardo Archivo y Festival Internacional de Videopoesía, as they’re now calling it, has issued a CFW on social media for its 2025 festival, with a Google form for submissions:
Videobardo Archive and International Videopoetry Festival, founded in 1996, opens its call for submissions to be part of a new edition of the Festival, which will take place in November in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
We understand videopoetry as those audiovisual works in which poetic verbal language —whether word, letter, speech, or writing, as well as visual and/or sound signs— plays a central role or receives a special treatment. In this way, the three fundamental elements —moving image, sound, and verbal language— engage in a dialogue to create a distinct reality that constitutes the Videopoetic Work.
This links to a PDF on Google Drive for the terms and conditions. Here’s their English translation:
A. Video poems may be submitted in single-channel format.
B. It is an essential condition that the copyright and projection rights are in the name of the person presenting the work or artist’s autorization. (Productors)
C. The theme is free and there is no duration limit or realization date required.
D. Each artist can submit more than one work if they wish.
E. Each work must be submitted in this call until AUGUST 10, 2025 in the link: https://forms.gle/XejZZ7xCzorqy8yK6
F. For any work in a language other than Spanish, we request subtitles in Spanish. Subtitling may be dispensed with as long as the artist and VideoBardo consider that it does not affect the understanding of the work.
G. A selection will be made among the works received, which will be exhibited as part of the Festival programming.
H. Given the independent nature of VideoBardo, it does not have the financial means to pay fees or shipping costs to participating artists.
I. The material sent will become part of the VideoBardo archive.
J. The submission of the works implies that the artists authorize the display of fragments or images of the works in the media that VideoBardo considers pertinent during the Festival and its subsequent itinerances.
K. The copyright on the work is the exclusive property of the artist who allows VideoBardo its exhibition and dissemination.
L. The material from the VideoBardo archive cannot be copied, only consulted.
M. We are open to considering proposals within what we call “expanded” videopoetry, that is, works that include poetry in an experimental format or that are close to videopoetry including verbal language + image + sound. Examples: Videopoetic installation, poetic VJ, visual and/or sound poetry, poetic Net Art, Cinepoetry. Videoclip or Videopoetic Documentary, Videoperformance and Videodance.
N. The material sent after the closing date of the call will not be considered for the Festival 2025, however it will enter the permanent call of our VideoBardo Archive for future exhibitions.
O. The sending of the material implies the acceptance of these bases and any aspect not contemplated in these regulations will be resolved by VideoBardo.CONSULTAS / ANSWER videobardo1@gmail.com
Lost Stream by Fiona Tinwei Lam
Vancouver-based poet Fiona Tinwei Lam recites a poem from her 2019 collection Odes & Laments. I found this animation by Quinn Kelly unexpectedly moving—especially when the flow of the creek is replaced by the flow of traffic on a divided highway. Uploaded late last year [to Vimeo; now no longer online], the description reads:
A poetry video based on a poem about the city’s hidden and lost streams. Animation by Quinn Kelly. Narration by the poet Fiona Tinwei Lam. Audio-recording by Lileth Charlet. Recorded at CEDaR sound studio at the University of British Columbia. Sound design by Bill Hardman. Part of the Vancouver Poet Laureate’s City Poems Project 2022-2024.
There’s also a version with very elegant subtitling.
