~ festivals and other screening events ~
News about any and all events in which poetry films/videos are prominently featured, whether or not they include an open competition. Please let us know about any we might miss. And don’t forget to check out our page of links to poetry film festivals. All festivals, events and calls for work are mentioned by MovingPoems with our best efforts and in good faith. However, do check all details yourself as we cannot guarantee accuracy, and make your own judgements because we cannot verify the things that we share. Events may fail for a variety of genuine reasons, or may be a scam to elicit fees.
Call for work: Living with Buildings IV
Living With Buildings is a quarterly festival of films that explore themes of people, poetry and place to understand how we live within the built environment of cities and urban spaces.
Submissions for the fourth edition are now open for films of up to 5 minutes, until the deadline on 6th November.
https://filmfreeway.com/LivingWithBuildings-IV
The event will take place in Coventry, UK on 23rd November 2022. Living With Buildings is presented by the Disappear Here poetry film project – and is rooted in Coventry, a city famed for its ringroad and modernist architecture, and its reinvention as a city rising from the ashes and ruins of arial bombing in World War Two.
The event is happy to consider work originating from all around the world.
Call for work: REELpoetry 2023, Houston USA
REELpoetry/HoustonTX 2023 is an international, curated, hybrid poetry film festival taking place online and in person from 24-26 February 2023. The event has been running for five years. The organisers say:
“We explore this genre with poets, videograpers and filmmakers working solo or collaboratively, on a cell phone or in a studio, with new or remixed or previously created work. We’re inviting open submissions, and also featuring screenings from invited guest curators, deaf poetry, films about poets or a particular poem, as well as Q&A with poets, videographers and filmmakers, networking, live readings, panel discussions, and more.”
This year’s festival is not themed, and submissions are invited up to a maximum of six minutes. Prizes will be awarded in two categories: poetry film/videos under four minutes, and poetry film/video four to six minutes long.
REELpoetry/HoustonTX is a project of Public Poetry publicpoetry.net
Submissions via FilmFreeway: https://filmfreeway.com/REELpoetry2023
“A Poetic Encounter”: poetry films from Belgium and Germany in Brussels
A film evening ‘A Poetic Encounter’ – organised by the International Poetry Film Festival of Thuringia, will present films from Belgium and Germany, in Brussels, on Wednesday 12th October.
The filmmakers Ana María Vallejo, Catalina Giraldo, Rika Tarigan, Marc Neys, Jan Peeters, Paul Bogaert will talk about and show their films and will be in conversation with host Michaël Vandebril.
If you wish to attend: Prior registration is required. Click here to register
VideoBardo Screening and Conference
Ahead of the VideoBardo International Videopoetry Festival in November, there is a screening and conference by Marisol Bellusciin on Saturday 24th September as part of Quilmes Arts Week.
Selected works:
- Bookanima; Andy Warhol. by Kim Shon / S.Corea
- Communal by Smorodinova Marina / Rusia
- Complejo Obrero Complejo de Pereiró Vic / España
- Gente Monstruo de Lucas Nuñez / Argentina
- Mind Fly by Trautwein Jurgen / Germany
- Moments de Susanne Wiegner / Germany
- Novena by Camia Shirley / Canadá
- Page of love de NOWA – Jeff Zorrilla y Alejandra López Martín/ Spain/USA
- Terroir de Westlake Dawn / USA
- Andrò a ritroso della nostra corsa by Mattia Biondi / Italia
- Concierto para mar en sol mayor de Javier Robledo / Argentina
- The Divine Way by Ilaria Di Carlo / Italia
- A UNX de Bustamante Paz / Argentina
- Centered Brane Fair / USA
- Hasta que me acuerdo de un sueño que tuve antes de Colombo Migliorero Santiago / Argentina
The festival is curated by Marisol Bellusci and Javier Robledo.
Drumshanbo Written Word Weekend 2022 Poetry Film programme now online
Drumshanbo Literary Festival’s Written Word Weekend took place in Leitrim in Ireland in August, and it incorporated a poetry film festival. The winning film was Four Attempts At Making A Human – (not) after the Popol Vuh by writer Dylan Brennan and film-maker Jonathan Brennan. (as reported previously by Moving Poems).
The full programme of 14 shortlisted films are now together to view on YouTube.
- Twenty Times – Caroline Rumley
- Immigrants Open Shops – Pat Boran
- Grace – Kathryn Darnell
- Memory Hair – Philip Spillane
- Legacy – Pam Falkenberg/Jack Cochran
- Back Up Quick, They’re Hippies – Fiona Aryan/ Lani O’Hanlon
- See Shells – Lee Campbell
- Someone else’s war – Sinead McClure
- Madrigal of the Nesting Doll – Milla Van der Have
- There is a scratch on the inside of my right Knee – Paula Harris
- The Dealer – Chloe Jacquet
- Lost Souls – Dennis Earlie/ Kevin McManus
- Four attempts at making a human – Dylan and Jonathan Brennan
- Containment – Janet Lees
Call for work: MARXE festival internacional de videopoesía 2022
This is the second edition of this festival. The first took place in Vigo, Spain and this year it will take place in Famalicão, Portugal, within the BINNAR festival program, on 10 November 2022 and Vigo on the 19th. Entries are invited in any language, but any submitted films must have subtitles in Galician. Maximum length of films is 5 minutes.
More information on the festival website http://marxe.org/
Call for work: Weimar Poetry Film Award 2023
Early bird entries are open for this well-organised and respected festival in Weimar, Germany. Poetry films of up to 10 minutes are welcome and entrants can submit up to 3 films that have been produced since 2020. The competition forms part of the International Poetry Film Festival of Thuringia. The 2023 event takes place 19-20 May 2023. Early bird entries until 31st December, final deadline 31st January 2023.
Festival website: https://poetryfilmtage.de/
10th International Video Poetry Festival in Athens, Greece: Programme published
The 10th International Video Poetry Festival in Athens takes place from 28th September to 1st October.
The event details and full programme are now online on their website and also available to view or download as a pdf document.
Within poetry film, the curated programmes include HUMAN LIFE TODAY, FEMINIST STRUGGLES, INVISIBLE LIFE, HUMAN ECOLOGY & PLANET EARTH, LGBTQI STRUGGLES, POLITICAL & SOCIAL AWARENESS. And the festival includes a range of other films, live performances and talks.
Ó Bhéal 10th Poetry Film Competition Deadline Looms
If you intended to send something in for Ó Bhéal’s 10th Poetry Film Competition, you have until the 31st of August. Here are the entire guidelines:
Submissions will be open from 1st May – 31st August 2022. Entries made outside of these dates cannot be considered. You may submit as many films as you like – each must interpret or convey a poem (present in its entirety, audibly and/or visually) and have been completed after the 1st of May 2020.
Entries may not exceed 10 minutes in duration. Non-English or non-Irish language films will require English subtitles.
Judges for 2022 are Colm Scully and Paul Casey.
The shortlist will be announced during October 2022 and one overall winner will receive the Ó Bhéal award for best poetry-film. Shortlisted films will be screened (and the winner announced) at the 10th Winter Warmer poetry festival (25th-27th Nov 2022).
Entry is free to anyone, and should be made via email to poetryfilm [at] obheal.ie – including the following info in an attached word document:
- Name and duration of Film
- Month & Year completed
- Name of Director
- Country of origin
- Contact details
- Name of Poet
- Name of Poem
- Synopsis
- Filmmaker biography
- and a Link to download a high-resolution version of the film.**
** If you are sending a vimeo or youtube link, etc, please ensure that the download button is enabled. All films not shortlisted by the judges are permanently deleted directly after the adjudication process.
Call for work: REELpoetry/HoustonTX 2023
REELpoetry/HoustonTX 2023 is accepting submissions on FilmFreeway.
POETRY combined with film and video propels “REELpoetry/HoustonTX” 2023, an international, curated, hybrid poetry film festival taking place online and in person FEBRUARY 24-26, 2023 We explore this genre with poets, videograpers and filmmakers working solo or collaboratively, on a cell phone or in a studio, with new or remixed or previously created work. We’re inviting open submissions, and also featuring screenings from invited guest curators, deaf poetry, films about poets or a particular poem, as well as Q&A with poets, videographers and filmmakers, networking, live readings, panel discussions, and more.
This year’s poetry film/ video festival is not themed. Everyone is invited to submit their best work, created in the past or the present, up to a maximum of 6 minutes. Prizes will be awarded in two categories: poetry film/ videos under 4 minutes and poetry film/ video 4 to 6 minutes. See Guidelines for additional details.
REELpoetry/HoustonTX is a project of Public Poetry (publicpoetry.net).
Public Poetry director Fran Sanders elaborated in an email:
In 2023, in addition to juried open submissions, programs by curators/presenters, trio talks on craft and a panel discussion, we will be significantly expanding our offerings for the deaf and hard of hearing, with ASL poets and poetry and English/ASL interpreters so it is accessible to everyone. We have an outstanding all-deaf committee doing the programming, including Peter Cook, Sabina England, Crom Saunders among others.
Given the way the world is, I don’t feel comfortable asking people to travel to Houston if they live any distance away, so the 2023 Festival will be largely online. However, there will be multiple opportunities for interaction on Zoom in real time each day of the festival. For local audiences here will be some in-person events that feature Houston and Texas makers. Everything will be streamed to accommodate international time zones.
Huge kudos to the organizers for taking accessibility so seriously, and best of luck to everyone who enters. Visit FilmFreeway for complete rules and guidelines.
Call for work: International Migration and Environmental Film Festival, Toronto, Canada
Still time to submit to the International Migration and Environmental Film Festival (IMEFF) – a not-for-profit cultural organization, that raises awareness about migration and environmental issues. They say that:
“IMEFF is dedicated to presenting the best of international film, documentary, photo and artwork that captures migration, trafficking, refugees, pollution, habitat loss, climate change, to educate, entertain, inform and encourage conversations, provokes debate about changes, innovation, sustainability and how to make the world a better place for every creature.”
The event takes place 10-16 October 2022 in Toronto, and last date for entries via FilmFreeway is on 31st August. There are a range of categories for entry in the festival, but includes a specific poetry category.
Call for work: World Poetry Slam Championship – Brussels, Belgium
A big poetry slam championship is announcing that they are looking for poetry films to showcase alongside the poetry slam which takes place in Brussels, Belgium from the 26th to the 29th of September 2022. It sounds as if they are exploring a variety of ways to screen films alongside the live event in Brussels.
“… we are going to collaborate with one of the most beautiful libraries in Brussels, Muntpunt, where we will have most of our side activities and a box for projections where people can enter and watch video poetry and spoken word video performances from around the world. We also collaborate with Cine Ritcs where we will screenplay the documentaries and some of the videos selected. Moreover, we will have various points in our venues with small screens where people will be able to stop and watch the videos selected. We are still looking for more spaces to project these videos.”
More details on their website https://www.worldpoetryslam.org/open-call-video-poetry
And on the FilmFreeway submission page https://filmfreeway.com/WorldPoetrySlamChampionship
Deadline is 10th August for films of 7 minutes or less, but really important to note is the requirement for subtitles for inclusivity:
“All films should be subtitled either in English, or Dutch or French or Spanish. The film can be in any language as long as there are subtitles in one of these languages. Even the videos in English should have subtitles, as this is an inclusive festival.”
