Posts By Dave Bonta
Atticus Review Videopoem Contest deadline approaches
Just a reminder for all my fellow procrastinators that the deadline for the Atticus Review‘s first annual videopoem contest is coming up on December 3. Atticus Review is one of the few major online literary magazines to make room for multimedia work over the years, and the judge for this first contest, the Australian experimental filmmaker Marie Craven, is one of the most original innovators in the genre, so you don’t want to miss this opportunity! Submit here.
Visible Poetry Project 2019: filmmaker applications and poetry submissions extended till Nov 10
The New York-based Visible Poetry Project will once again be releasing 30 poetry films—one a day—in April, and for the third year in a row, their original call somehow slipped under my radar. (This is what happens when sites don’t have a blog I can subscribe to.) But when I finally remembered to go look at their website just now, I noticed that the deadline for both poetry submissions and filmmaker applications are still open… for five more days! Here’s what they say about the latter:
UPDATE: The deadline for applications has been extended to November 10, 2018!
Applications for the Visible Poetry Project 2019 series open on September 10, 2018 and close on October 31, 2018.
The Visible Poetry Project strives to emphasize the diversity of the global film community, and so encourage you to apply regardless of background or circumstance. Whether filmmaking is your hobby, profession, private outlet, or public expression, your work is welcome.
Within your application, please provide a reel and/or links to previous films you’ve created. All work samples must be original, and you must be one of the main contributors. You may submit up to three links. We recommend submitting samples that you believe to be representative of the greater styles and themes in your work. If you are accepted, this will help inform which poet you may get paired with.
You may apply as part of a team (up to two filmmakers). If you are applying as part of a team, please submit only one application. Please include links to reels for both collaborators, and send an email to visiblepoetryproject@gmail.com, CC’ing your co-director.
If you are a producer, director of photography, or editor, and are interested in being involved in the 2019 series, please email visiblepoetryproject@gmail.com.
Click through for the application form. (Here’s the poetry submission form.)
This project has yielded some really high-quality work so far in a wide range of styles, so if you’re at all ambitious about making poetry films, why not throw your hat in the ring?
Call for submissions: 2019 Weimar Poetry Film Prize
For the fourth year in a row, a major poetry-film contest and associated screenings will be held as part of a multi-day festival otherwise devoted to student films from around the world, in the delightful, culture-rich city of Weimar, Germany. From the Poetryfilmkanal website:
CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS
Through the new film award, backup_festival and Literarische Gesellschaft Thüringen e.V. (LGT) are looking for innovative poetry films. Filmmakers from any nation and of any age are welcome to participate with up to three short films of up to 8:00 mins, which should explore the relation between film and written poetry in an innovative, straightforward way. Films that are produced before 2016 will not be considered. From all submitted films selected for the festival competition three Jury members will choose the winner of the main prize (1000 € Best Animation, 1000,- € Best Video). Moreover, an audience award of 250 € will be awarded.
The competition »Weimar Poetry Film Award« is financed by Kulturstiftung des Freistaats Thüringen and the City of Weimar.
Deadline: March 31th, 2018
Form for submissions [pdf] by mail or e-mail.
Literarische Gesellschaft Thüringen e. V.
Marktstraße 2–4
99423 Weimar, Germany
Email: info@poetryfilm.deThe »Weimar Poetry Film Award« call for entries is international. For the submission send with the other informations a quotable text of the related poem in German or English.
Presentation of awards: June 1st, 2019.
Call for work: The Atticus Review Videopoem Contest
Atticus Review, one of the few major online literary magazines to consistently make room for poetry film and other mixed media work, this week announced a new videopoem contest.
Atticus Review is happy to announce our first annual Videopoem Contest judged by Marie Craven. You can submit up to 3 videopoems. The cost for entry is $15. You may submit video files or links to Vimeo or YouTube pages. Please no submissions from former students or close acquaintances of the Contest Judge. The videopoems can be previously published.
First Prize: $300
Second Prize: $75
Third Prize: $25Deadline: December 3rd, 2018 Winner Announced: January 7th, 2019
A note about gifting of contest fees: We know contests can get expensive for writers. That’s why we’ve added ways for friends, family, or any kind of generous benefactor (we won’t ask questions!) to gift you a contest entry. A sponsor can make a one-time gift to you for your submission fee, or they can become a Patreon Supporter at the “Sustainer” level or above and then get in touch with us to request a free contest entry for a friend and send us your name and email address. Also, while we’re talking about Patreon, you can become a Patreon Supporter at the “Sustainer” level or above and you will be able to submit to any current or future Atticus Review videopoem contest for free as long as you remain a supporter. Also, you’d be helping us publish great writing and art.
About the judge: Marie Craven began making experimental and narrative shorts in the mid 1980s, working with super 8, 16mm and 35mm film formats. During the 1990s and into the 2000s her work was widely screened and awarded at major international film festivals. Since 2007, she has been working in digital media, mostly via internet collaboration with artists and musicians around the world. A central focus on video poetry began in 2014, and since that time she has made more than 60 videos with many poets from different countries. Her video poetry has since been screened at most of the film poetry festivals internationally, and featured in online journals. Over the decades, she has also been involved in teaching, seminars, reviewing and festival programming. Her recent videos can be found at http://vimeo.com/mariecraven
I like the idea of gifting someone else’s entry fee. And of course I’m chuffed to see such a good poetry filmmaker acting as judge.
Call for poetry films and cinepoems: REELpoetry
This Houston, Texas-based event sounds really exciting:
“REELpoetry/HoustonTX” 2019 is a curated poetry film event featuring documentaries, artist cinefilms and videos screened at multiple venues March 22-24, 2019. Participants – including featured poets, film makers and artists (local, national and international) – are invited to attend.
REELPoetry/HoustonTX 2019 seeks cinepoems by poets, artists, and filmmakers. Any style or theme of cinepoetry is welcomed. We accept submissions across a wide array of artistic practices: poetry films, word-art films, experimental films, and text and sound films such as the contemporary presentation of concrete poetry. The submission may include, but is not limited to, dance, music, and performance. Intentional settings and contexts may range from public art, architecture, sculpture, landscapes, or indoor theatrical setting. The cinepoem may include voice over, or text may be included on the screen itself. Provide a translation if the original poem is not in English. We welcome imaginative combinations of various artistic collaborations. An individual might work alone to produce all aspects of the cinepoem; or, there might be a collaboration among various artists. All contributors need to be listed in ending credits. By submitting the cinepoem to REELpoetry/Houston TX 2019 the submitter acknowledges that all work is original.
SUBMISSION ACCEPTED STARTING OCTOBER 15, 2018 HERE
NOTE: Public Poetry Members receive a 15% discount. on the entry fee. Memberships start at $8/mo.
To join Public Poetry as a member go to: http://www.publicpoetry.net/membership-here/
ZEBRA Poetry Film Festival winners announced
Last weekend was the biannual ZEBRA Poetry Film Festival Münster | Berlin, the world’s largest and most prestigious poetry-film event. Six prizes were awarded in all.
The International Jury, with filmmaker and journalist Jasmine Kainy, Dutch poet Erik Lindner and publisher of poetry film magazine Guido Naschert, awarded four prizes:
The “ZEBRA Prize for the Best Poetry Film”, donated by the Haus für Poesie, goes to Boy Saint by the Irish director Tom Speers (based on the poem of the same name by Peter LaBerge). “Boy Saint” sensitively tells the story of the confusing feelings of two adolescent boys who become aware of their budding sexuality.
The “Goethe Film Award”, donated by the Goethe-Institut, goes to Stad in die mis | City in the Mist. The elaborate animation from South Africa, based on the poem by the Afrikaans writer D.J. Opperman, tells the story of a man who experiences the city as an enemy animal.
The “Award for the Best Film for Tolerance”, donated by the Federal Foreign Office, goes to Anna Eijsbouts’ silhouette animation Hate for Sale based on the poem by Neil Gaiman. The film by the Dutch director and animator tells of a world in which people consume hatred and are consumed by it. Ayny – My Second Eye received a special mention, which tells of the strength of people who have lost their homes, their homeland and their fundamental rights. The film, which has already won a Student Oscar, is based on a tragic event that director and author Ahmad Saleh himself experienced ten years ago in a refugee camp.
The “Ritter Sport Filmpreis” in the German-language competition goes to Standard Time, a timeless, self-referential meditation on the power of communication that changes and sometimes falsifies – by Hanna Slak based on a poem by Daniela Seel.
Merle Radtke, the new director of the Kunsthalle Münster, the filmmaker Rainer Komers and the author Sabrina Janesch formed the jury for the NRW competition.
In the NRW competition, the film (No) We, I, Myself and Them? by Christin Bolewski, which impressively illustrates the poem “massacre” by Liao Yiwu with passing drawings, sketches and image sequences, impressed the jury. An old Chinese hand-written scroll of a cityscape “opens up” to documentary video footage taken on Tian’anmen Square in Beijing.
And finally, an enthusiastic young audience awarded the Zebrino Prize, donated by Filmwerkstatt Münster, to the American real film Scrappy by American filmmaker Dawn Westlake. She adapted a poem by her father Donald G. Westlake – which tells of a courageous little girl, a dog and stolen chickens.
For four days, the Schloßtheater offered the filmmakers, poets and viewers of the ZEBRA Poetry Film Festival Münster | Berlin space for discoveries and encounters. The winning films and other entries from the competitions will be presented at the ZEBRA Poetry Film Festival at the Kulturbrauerei cinema in Berlin from 6 to 8 December 2018. Next autumn, the Filmfestival Münster will again be presented at the Schloßtheater.
The festival is organized by Filmwerkstatt Münster in cooperation with Haus für Poesie, Berlin. It is supported by the Kunststiftung NRW, the Ministry of Culture and Science of North Rhine-Westphalia and the City of Münster.
Click through for photos, stills, and more.
Poetry films on the refugee crisis to be screened at North Cornwall Book Festival
For those able to get to St Endelion on October 4th, this sounds like a great event.
Uprooted
Event 2
Thursday 4th October, 7.30pm, St Endellion Hall
Admission £6 (Free to accompanying carers)Uprooted tersely describes the situation of the subjects of this evening of poetry films. Poetry filmmaker and writer, Sarah Tremlett and performance poet and novelist, Lucy English are Liberated Words. They’ll screen powerful and varied short poetry films from their Home From Home project, exploring the effects of war in the Middle East and the refugee crisis, as well as interpretations of home for those arriving as immigrants in a strange country. Between films, Lucy will perform poems from The Book of Hours.
If you’re not sure just what a poetry film might look like, you can watch some of the Liberated Words catalogue of films here.
You can find out more about Sarah’s work here, and about Lucy’s work here.
Liberated Words CIC www.liberatedwords.com was founded in 2012 by poetry filmmaker and arts writer Sarah Tremlett (www.sarahtremlett.com) and performance poet and novelist Lucy English (Reader in Creative Writing at Bath Spa University). Poetry films are short films combining poetry (spoken and/or written with the moving image and music, and Lucy and Sarah’s focus is to curate and screen films from their community workshops alongside top international poetry filmmakers. Workshops include working with: school children (English, Media and Dance), dementia patients, and teenagers with autism (where they were recognised by Bath Council for raising awareness about autism, particularly for the parents and carers involved).
Their current project-in-progress Home from Home which will take place in 2019, centres on urban and rural groups facing homelessness, whether refugees or those from a variety of disadvantaged backgrounds. It offers the opportunity to use poetry film workshops and a one-year screening programme as a means of expression and learning, while creating a revealing approach to consciousness-raising for the general public. Films screened on this special festival evening have been selected by Sarah from the Liberated Words and Poem Film archives, or by courtesy of the artists. There will be an opportunity for discussion after the screening.
Click through to book a ticket.
Wild Whispers International Poetry Film Project to launch at Swindon Poetry Festival
The Swindon Poetry Festival Programme 2018 is live, and includes this event:
U.K. LAUNCH OF WILD WHISPERS INTERNATIONAL POETRY FILM PROJECT WITH CHAUCER CAMERON
5th October; 17:00 – 18:00; TENT PALACE OF THE DELICIOUS AIR.
Wild Whispers is an international poetry film project that started with one poem and led to 12 versions, 9 languages and 12 poetry films. The project travelled from the U.K. to India, Australia, Taiwan, France, South Africa, Belgium, Sweden and the U.S.A., creating poetry films in English, Malaylam, Chinese, French, Affrikaans, Belgium, American Sign Language, Navajo, Spanish, and Welsh.
Here’s the trailer:
A printed pamphlet will be available with process notes from each of the contributors as well as the ever-mutating text of the poem. It’s a fascinating project, to which—full disclaimer—I was honored to be asked to contribute. I’ve never been to the Swindon Poetry Festival, but I believe this is its tenth year, and they’ve certainly got a varied and interesting programme. Back in 2014, poet and poetry filmmaker Robert Peake called it
among the friendliest and least pretentious; rich, diverse, and encompassing; pushing past conventional views of poetry in the twenty-first century; intimately global; startlingly fresh.
Tickets are through Eventbrite.
2018 Juteback Poetry Film Festival releases shortlist
Juteback Poetry Film Festival has released a list of their 2018 selections: 24 films in all. Countries of origin aren’t listed, but based on the names I recognize, I’d say it looks like a very international selection.
JPFF is, as they say on their About page, “Colorado’s only poetry film festival and one of only two screening in the U.S. today” (the other being Doublebunny in Massachusetts).
Join us on Friday October 19th at Wolverine Farm Publishing’s Letterpress and Publick House, 316 Willow St, @ 7:30 in Fort Collins CO. for Juteback Poetry Film Festival 2018. […] Festival Director R.W. Perkins. Festival Programers R.W. Perkins & Matt Mullins.
Good Bones by Maggie Smith
Motionpoems’ latest release is based on U.S. poet Maggie Smith‘s viral poem. As director Anaïs La Rocca explains,
In the summer of 2016, Maggie Smith sat in a Starbucks in Bexley, Ohio, and wrote a poem. “Life is short, though I keep this from my children,” it began. Smith had no idea that she was setting down the first lines of a work that would seize the mood — and social-media accounts — of so many people in the tumultuous year that was 2016.
A year later, Director Anais La Rocca teamed up with Maggie Smith to bring this poem to life in the short film “Good Bones”.
Good Bones is a heartfelt work that grapples with pain, injustice, unfairness and disillusionment— all in a fantastical story told through the eyes of a six year old girl and the voice of her mother.
Written, directed, produced and post produced by an all female team, this film embodies the power, strength and courage within women, and our responsibility to pass on and teach this courage to our little girls.
In the film, the mother takes on the role of a real estate agent: “I am trying/ to sell them the world. Any decent realtor, walking you through a real s***hole, chirps on about good bones: This place could be beautiful, right? You could make this place beautiful.”
For the text of the poem, see Waxwing, where it originally appeared — or get hold of Smith’s 2017 collection, also titled Good Bones.
Never Say Never Say Never by Patrick James Errington
From British director Adele Myers, a film based on a poem by Patrick James Errington. Here’s the description from Vimeo:
Savouring their last moments, a couple struggle with letting go. They must, but breaking up is hard to do.
This short film is based on an original poem written by Patrick Errington. The poem was commended in the National Poetry Competition 2016, Poetry Society (UK). This film was commissioned by FilmPoem and original adaptation was produced entirely in Fujairah UAE.
The actors are Layla Al Khouri and Sanoop Din. For a full list of credits, see Poetry Film Live.
Rise by Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner and Aka Niviana
Climate activists and poets, Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner and Aka Niviana, travel to the latter’s home of Greenland to recite their collaborative poem, Rise, on a melting glacier that might threaten the former’s home nation of the Marshall Islands in the Pacific.
Dan Lin directed this poetry film for 350.org, which, oddly, only allows the Vimeo upload to be viewed on their website—which is unfortunate, because it includes subtitling options in Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, Turkish, Russian, and Japanese. The above YouTube version, which Bill McKibben shared at The Guardian along with an accompanying essay, is unlisted but—at time of publication, at any rate—shareable. The former link includes some background by Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner:
With the last few poems I’ve written, I’ve tried to balance the piece by grounding it in some sort of legend … For this particular poem, I struggled with finding the right legend. … The legend I ultimately chose was “Ao Aorōk In Io̗kwe” a legend from Ujae that was transcribed by Heynes Jeik. The Marshallese version of the legend is below. There is no exact translation at this time, but here is my own (somewhat rough) summary:
The legend features sisters from Ujae who loved and respected each other very much. One day they decided to have a juggling competition around the entire island. They began their juggling competition – when the eldest reached a certain spot by the edge of the reef, she dropped the shells rock she was juggling, and she suddenly turned into stone. The younger sister, who was following close behind, noticed this strangely shaped rock – when she came closer, she saw that it was her sister. In her grief, she decided to drop the rock she was juggling as well, choosing to turn to stone, so she could stay by her sister’s side. The moral of the story is the love that connected the two sisters.
I asked the group I was skyping with a few questions – why did the elder sister turn into a stone at that specific spot? Was that spot magical? They weren’t sure. But one of the members from the Curriculum Assessment Team offered that she noticed we have many stories that featured the creation of stone, or people turning to stone. We reflected on this a bit, and an observation was offered that stones are permanent – they never disappear, and that stones are a part of our culture as well. After our skype session, I received a message from Heynes Jeik: “…Ij bar kakememej iok bwe ekkar nan jar ke roritto ijoke, rej ba deka ej motan manit in ad, em aolep men ko bunnid rej erom deka, ej einwot juon men eo epan jako nan indeio.” Which loosely translates to, “I just want to remind you that according to our elders, stone is a part of our culture, and everything becomes stone, it’s something that will never disappear.”
I ultimately chose this legend because it features sisters, which I felt fit nicely into the concept of me and Aka as “sisters of ice and snow/sister of ocean and sand.” I also appreciated the concept of stone – the concept of permanence against the destructive forces of climate change. My friend, Lyz Soto, who regularly edits my work, helped me think it through further “the idea of choosing stone so you can always be a part of your home.” This, ultimately, became the declaration I chose to focus on – choosing stone to always be a part of our home.
Read the whole essay at 350.org, which also includes bios of the poets and filmmakers and the full text of the poem. And here’s how McKibben’s Guardian essay begins:
I’ve spent 30 years thinking about climate change – talking with scientists, economists and politicians about emission rates and carbon taxes and treaties. But the hardest idea to get across is also the simplest: we live on a planet, and that planet is breaking. Poets, it turns out, can deliver that message.
But they don’t watch impassively. Both are climate activists, and both have raised their voices in service of their homelands. Jetnil-Kijiner, 30, has been at it for years – she’s performed her work before the United Nations General Assembly and the Vatican. Niviana is newer to activism – just 23, she recited a poem at a recent Copenhagen climate protest, where she met a well-known glaciologist, Jason Box, and he, in turn, organised the complicated logistics of this glacier expedition.
