~ 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.
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.
Calls for work: some traditional film festivals that welcome poetry films
About a year ago, Dave Bonta, in “A Month of Women’s Poetry Film,” mused that videopoetry perhaps wasn’t prestigious enough yet to be dominated by male voices and visions, and invited comments and stories on that, or any of the other points he raised in his essay. So far, no one has taken him up on that invitation.
However, I have noticed one sign that may indicate that videopoetry is becoming more prestigious, or at least more mainstream: increasingly, traditional film festivals are starting to invite submissions of poetry films.
Filmmakers and poets looking to expand the audience for their work may want to consider some of these festivals, and the film festival submission websites that have recently come to dominate the entry process. For now, I’m going to concentrate on a few festivals with upcoming deadlines for poetry films on the FilmFreeway platform, which some of you may be familiar with already, since the ZEBRA Poetry Film Festival, the Weimar Poetry Film Award, and the Rabbit Heart Poetry Film Festival (among other poetry film festivals) are now listed there.
High Coast International Film Festival — the early bird deadline is September 23, 2018; several other deadlines follow until the final deadline on June 23, 2019; event dates August 30-31, 2019.
There is no special category for poetry films, but this 4th season Swedish festival seeks films with a “free voice” that experiment with the film medium “regardless of genre, thematics or method.” Their FilmFreeway page notes that they have programmed “wild experimental film poetry,” but submitters will have to pick a broader category to enter (narrative, documentary, or experimental). Fees for short films start at $10 for early bird submissions, and increase to $19 by the final deadline. The festival covers accommodations at a hotel near the festival venue for all selected filmmakers.
https://filmfreeway.com/HighCoastFilmFestival
Grecanica International Film Festival — the early bird deadline is October 31, 2018; other deadlines follow until the extended deadline on March 31, 2019; event dates May 17-19, 2019
This Italian festival, now in its second year, is looking for films promoting “human rights, dignity, equality, lands, peoples, cultures, linguistic or historical minorities, popular and ethnic music,” including “Graekanic and and Italian minorities poetry produced anywhere in the world.” Films in languages other than Italian must be subtitled in Italian. Fees start at $20 and go up for later deadlines.
https://filmfreeway.com/grecanicafilmfestival
All Together Now: A Celebration of Art, Film & Music — the early bird deadline is October 4, 2018; final deadline is February 28, 2019; event dates April 26-28, 2019
This is the inaugural year for this Michigan festival that will take place in an art gallery, where they plan to bring music and short films together over two weekends for “creative exchange.” This festival accepts short films under 20 minutes in length, and has a separate category for “poetry based films.” Fees start at $15 for the early bird deadline, and increase to $20 for the final deadline.
https://filmfreeway.com/AllTogetherNow
Trenton Film Festival — the regular deadline is October 1, 2018; final deadline is November 1, 2018; event dates March 28-31, 2019
This New Jersey festival is looking for cutting edge films from anywhere in the world completed after January 1, 2018. Poetry films are included in a kind of catch-all category — “Experimental, Music Video, Spoken Word Poetry … new media.” Submissions need to be 25 minutes or less. The early bird deadline has already passed, so bargain hunters are out of luck this year. The regular deadline fee is $20, and goes up to $30 for the late deadline.
https://filmfreeway.com/TrentonFilmFestival
So Limitless and Free — the late deadline is November 29, 2018; event date is December 8, 2018
Now in its second year, this Quebec festival focuses on “artistic films.” The organizers are obviously big fans of Jim Morrison and the Doors — they have a category for films that “Jim Morrison would have liked,” and offer a music prize for the best Doors cover. They also offer a prize for the best instrumental music for poetry, and have a separate category for film-poetry shorts under 25 minutes. The early deadlines have already passed; the fee for the late deadline is $10.
https://filmfreeway.com/SoLimitlessandFree
Realtime International Film Festival — regular deadline is December 31, 2018; late deadline is March 31, 2019; event dates are June 9-15, 2019
This festival out of Nigeria, now in its fourth year, is both a film festival with live screenings and an online festival/awards event. They offer an award for best poetry, and have a separate category for filmmakers who “wish to be eligible for the best spoken word award.” The early deadline has passed; fee for the regular deadline is $40, increasing to $60 for the late deadline. This festival has ambitious aims to be the “biggest … remotely accessible Festival in Africa,” and FilmFreeway notes that it is one of their 100 best reviewed festivals (based on participants’ postings), but in terms of the poetry film world, their submission fees are high.
https://filmfreeway.com/REALTIMEFILMFESTIVAL
Motion Pictures International Film Festival — early bird deadline is December 15, 2018; final deadline is July 5, 2019; event dates August 23-24, 2019
Now in its second year, this is a touring film festival that is planned to take place in a different location each year. The first festival was held in Nigeria; perhaps the second will be held in Canada, as there is an Alberta address listed on FilmFreeway. Their website is currently under construction, and their first festival just concluded at the end of August, so more news could be coming soon. They have a separate category for poetry films; the fee is $10 for any deadline.
https://filmfreeway.com/motionpicturesinternationalfilmfestival
Versi di Luce — regular deadline is November 5, 2018; event date March 21, 2019
Now in its eleventh year, this Italian festival located Modica and Gela is dedicated to Nobel prize winning poet Salvatore Quasimodo, who was born in Modica. The theme of this festival is cinema and poetry. The festival has a fairly broad interpretation of this, since they accept features, short films, and music videos inspired by their theme, but there is also a separate category for videopoetry and video art no more than five minutes in length, which can be based on any published or unpublished poem. The entry fee is $10.
https://filmfreeway.com/VersidiLuce
Miniature Film Festival — late deadline is October 8, 2018; event date is November 8, 2018
The theme for this Vancouver festival, now in its second year, is love. Submissions are limited to films one minute or less in length, and filmmakers are encouraged to take a “fun, broad interpretation …, such as love of something or someone, romantic love, looking for love, romantic comedy, love for or in nature, love of self, personal essay, video poetry or whatever.” The early deadlines have passed, including (alas) the earliest no fee deadline; the late deadline is $10. The festival director notes that submission fees go toward renting the venue and providing snacks for the screening.
https://filmfreeway.com/MiniatureFilmFestival
Finally, one poetry film festival that I only discovered because I was searching FilmFreeway for the term “poetry.”
Drop of water & soap bubble — Film contest on the Poetry by Joachim Ringelnatz — regular deadline is July 15, 2019; event date October 15, 2019
Several organizations have joined together to host the fourth competition dedicated to Ringelnatz, but the call for work is spearheaded by the Society for Contemporary Poetry in Leipzig. Ringelnatz is the pen name for artist and author Hans Botticher; according to Wikipedia, he is “best known for his wry poems, often using word play and sometimes bordering on nonsense poetry.” Participants can choose any of Ringelnatz’s poems, but the call for works notes that there is an audiobook of 39 selected poems (which includes five poems in English) that can be purchased and used optionally. There is no submission fee, but submitters must register on competition website, which will trigger an email with the exact competition conditions in an attachment. There are a variety of monetary and other prizes involved, some of them substantial.
https://filmfreeway.com/JoachimRingelnatzPoetryFilmContest
There are other film festival submission platforms besides FilmFreeway. If you’re interested in learning, here is one review article on the web that covers ten different platforms to get you started.
I’ve mainly worked the the two biggest platforms — FilmFreeway and Withoutabox. Withoutabox was the early standout; now that it has been integrated with Amazon and its sub-companies CreateSpace and IMDb, it remains the favorite of the largest film festivals, such as Sundance, Toronto, and Ann Arbor. CreateSpace does offer filmmakers opportunities to sell DVD’s or VOD on demand. FilmFreeway is the fast-growing newcomer that worked hard to sidestep all the criticisms faced by Withoutabox, and now hosts the vast majority of the smaller, less expensive festivals. I use both, because some festivals only use one or the other. One advantage of FilmFreeway for me is that you can update a project file very easily if you make editing changes. This is much more difficult on WIthoutabox.
Many poetry film festivals still use their own entry forms, or offer their own entry forms in addition to using FilmFreeway. Many poetry film festivals still offer free submissions. If it’s true that poetry film is becoming more mainstream, it is perhaps good to remember that that change will come with risks as well as benefits. In particular, in the larger independent film world, it’s hard to know what festivals are really a good match for a film when the databases are so large. FilmFreeway currently has 6960 festivals in its open and closed database, with 2471 currently open for submissions. Of those, 191 festivals are fee-free. In the larger film festival world, most filmmakers pay entry fees, throwing a lot of expensive darts to hit a very few targets. The only other alternative is to rely on social media, but only a few films go viral, and quality curation is in short supply. Thankfully, the videopoetry and poetry film community can rely on movingpoems.com, and as well as on all the websites and blogs cataloged on the Moving Poems’ list of links.
Ó Bhéal and Rabbit Heart festivals release shortlists
Cork, Ireland’s Ó Bhéal Poetry Film Festival yesterday released an illustrated, annotated program for their 2018 screenings, which are scheduled for 3:00 and 5:00 PM on Sunday, October 14. As in past years, the inclusion of descriptions for each film makes the list a useful resource even for those of us not able to attend the festival. View it here.
They join the Worcester, Massachusetts-based Rabbit Heart Poetry Film Festival, which released its own, longer (but unannotated) shortlists earlier in the week for their screenings on October 20. In contrast to Ó Bhéal, which will pick just one winner, RHPFF has seven competition categories plus Curator’s Choice and Showcase Features. Here’s the link.
It was good to see a mixture of new and familiar names on both festivals’ lists. (A third poetry film festival scheduled for October, Juteback, appears not to have released a program yet.) I look forward to catching up with many of these films when they appear on the web, and of course sharing my pick of the best at Moving Poems.
ZEBRA Poetry Film Festival to focus on US films
The ZEBRA Poetry Film Festival website has posted several announcements in English about the upcoming festival on the 27-30 September at Schloßtheater in Münster — though not, at the time of writing, the full programme yet. We’re told that 66 films were nominated from 1,200 entries to the five competitions, and that
Ten directors from eight countries followed the call to film this year’s festival poem “Endless wall-to-wall carpet (of the VIP foyer)” by Ann Cotten. Four of them will be shown at the festival in the presence of the filmmakers and the poet.
Also of note:
The focus of this year’s ZEBRA Poetry Film Festival is on the USA. Selected poetry films from this year’s entries will present the current facets of the US film and poetry scene. Readings and performances complete the range of films at the festival cinema Schloßtheater in Münster, a scientific lecture on the Beat Generation provides exciting background knowledge.
What drove the early representatives of the beat generation to the medium of film?
How do international filmmakers take up the poems of the Beat Generation in their poetry films today? In her lecture “Beat & Picture: A flashback and flash forward to the poetic and cinematic activities of the Beat Generation”, the specialist in American studies Dr. Martina Pfeiler invites us to take a closer look at the cinematic and lyrical heritage of the Beat Generation. The 90-minute lecture followed by a discussion will take place on Sunday, 30.9. at 1:30 p.m. in the Schloßtheater in Münster.
The whole series of events sounds pretty unmissable.
Rabbit Heart Poetry Film Festival releases longlist
Rabbit Heart, the western Massachusetts-based poetry film festival, released its 2018 longlist this week. View it on their website. Many of the names will be familiar to Moving Poems readers, and because Rabbit Heart uniquely requires poets to be directly involved in the making of the films, it’s a useful reference list of some of the currently most active poet-filmmakers around the world.
In a press release, the organizers note that
The festival, due to take place in Worcester on October 20th, 2018 focuses on short films that illustrate original poems, all of which are non-performance based (read: no footage of the poems being performed). This year Rabbit Heart received submissions from 29 countries, across 6 continents […]
Rabbit Heart will be awarding $800 prizes in seven categories this year: Best Overall Production, Best Animated, Best Music/Sound, Best Smartphone Production, Best Under 1 Minute, Best Valentine, and the Shoots! Youth Prize.
Tickets to the awards ceremony and the matinee screening are now on sale.
National Poetry Library Instagram Poetry Film Winners
The world’s first Instagram poetry exhibition ran from Thursday, April 26 to Sunday, July 1, 2018 at the UK’s National Poetry Library. Jane Glennie, whose Being and Being Empty — previously posted to Moving Poems — was one of the fifteen filmpoem winners included in the exhibit, was kind enough to share a program [PDF] with me when I noticed a photo of it in a brief news post about the exhibit on her website. That program is the source of the list of winners below. I have added links to play the films, since it’s a daunting task to search for them on the individual Instagram pages, or among the 1,771 posts (as of 28 July 2018) to #instapoetrylib on https://www.instagram.com, which is where all the entries are archived, and which is still active, if you would like to contribute a film even though the contest has ended; some of the more recent posts to be found on #instapoetrylib are photographs documenting the exhibit rather than new poems.
The winning films were apparently announced via comments/DMs on the individual Instagram posts. At the exhibit, the films were on a screen on a continual loop, while the selected image poems were exhibited on the walls. After having spent some time reviewing the films posted to #instapoetrylib, I believe that the 15 selected poetry films were chosen to represent the breadth and variety of work posted to Instagram — from films of poets reciting their poems, to spoken word performance films, to Instagram as poetry notebook, to found poetry films, animated poetry films, and the kinds of film poems Moving Poems typically celebrates.
Poets were only supposed to submit one entry per person, but many of the poets and the National Poetry Library itself did not appear to have taken this rule seriously. Some of the winners submitted more than one entry, and one winner subverted the Instagram video limits by submitting a longer film in two parts. Of the 1771 entries, there are approximately 114 poetry film postings (of which 44 were submitted by one poster, @b.ar.d).
Here are the winning films, listed in order from the exhibition program. (Readers of this post via feed readers or the email newsletter may have to click through to Moving Poems Magazine to watch the videos.)
NHS Crisis by Thomas ‘GhettoGeek’ Owoo (@ghettogeektv)
This might be the Instagram version he submitted to the contest. This link is to a pinned post on the GhettoGeek twitter page, which includes a link to the complete 4:31 version on YouTube.
A slam or spoken word reading style combines with dynamic graphics and imagery in politically powerful ways. Owoo has produced a number of variant works on this and other subjects on his YouTube channel and a range of social media sites.
A Spring Day by Annabel Wilson (@annabelwilsonart)
This is the post on her Instagram page announcing that her film was selected to show in the exhibition. This link is to the film on her Facebook page.
When she first posted the film to Instagram, she commented: “I wrote a poem last week on one of the first spring-like mornings- it came from that feeling that walking out on a clear morning gives, just as the sun comes up in all of its glory. It’s a sunrise, dawn poem, but also a hope and happiness poem. I have created this simple animation as a different kind of way to share it on World Poetry Day!”
The Art of Narcissism by Akora @parthenocarpy
https://www.instagram.com/p/BkI7GerDx4P/?taken-by=parthenocarpy
This is the only video posted to on her Instagram page. This is a link to the performance button on her Instagram page about performing at the National Poetry Library exhibit opening.
For many of the poets posting on Instagram, a film documents the performance of a poem, as does this one.
Being and Being Empty by Jane Glennie (@jane_glennie)
Above is the film on her Instagram page; this is the film on her Vimeo page.
Her description of the film: “How to be a mother … who is this being that I am? Wanting to be half-full with the joy of play, a job well done, and the softness of a bed to sink into at the end. Feeling half-empty with a busy brain that won’t shut down and twitches into awakening too early. Feeling overwhelmed by the chores and feeling rubbish as a result because surely that’s really not important. Tossing and turning and struggling to make a zingy start to each new day.”
A flicker film technique is a visceral representation of both the delight in and the fragmented and distracted attention of motherhood.
Boob Haiku by Fatima Al Rayes (@fatimaspoems)
https://www.instagram.com/p/BgkHmsVlupL/?taken-by=fatimaspoems
Here’s the film on her Instagram page. It is the only post on the page.
A film Fatima describes as “a haiku” documents the performance of writing out the poem and making a simple illustration using time compression.
Dice by Annie Rockson (@gyallikeannie)
This is the film on her Instagram page. Here it is on her YouTube page.
A filmed performance of a spoken word poet, “Dice,” “black dots trapped in a white box,” is a trope for the various traps that constrain black lives behind “a smokescreen of racial equality.”
En Silencio by Charles Olsen (@colsenart)
This is the film on Olsen’s Instagram page. Here’s his website.
Charles Olsen translates his poem from Spanish to English in the comments on his Instagram post: “In silence/water trickles down the bark/Leaves shine/like a flight of fish/and the forest/becomes a black sea/Like you/when we are together.” His spare film consists of close shots of the bark, leaves, and forest described in the poem in superimposed titles, but makes no attempt to depict the black sea of the relationship, which he leaves to our imagination.
Esprit Ya Pouvoire by Vid’or Tampa (@PTPlays)
https://www.instagram.com/p/BgEyznohJOX/?taken-by=ptplays
This is the film on her Instagram page.
Another filmed spoken-word performance, this one in honor of International Women’s Day. The comments on the Instagram post provide a translation of the poem to English: And the one who birthed you./And the one who fed you milk./And the one who made you laugh when sadness got into your heart./And the one who cooked porridge for you./And the one who fed you fufu./And the one who carried you on her back/ in her arms./And the one who stood you up each time you fell./And the one who taught you./And the one who wiped away your tears.
And the one who encouraged you;/Gave you advice./And the one who stands up for you./And the one who makes you laugh./And the one who shows you love./And the one who has faith in you./And the one who beats her chest for you./ And the one who sings for you./Bredrin, look left and look right. /She is there and we are all there. /You have grown up in the spirit of power./Recognise us.
Kaki by Sheena Baharudin (@sheenabaharudin)
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bgk669eACnz/?taken-by=sheenabaharudin
The film as it appears on Naharudin’s Instagram page.
Her comments when she posted the Instagram film: “Today is World Poetry Day! Submitting this bilingual piece for the #instapoetrylib call made by the @nationalpoetrylibrary . Inspired by the Zapin, a traditional Malay dance that focuses on the movement of the feet. Fyi, if the words sound familiar, it’s because this is the performed version of my previous #swipeleftpoetry post. Check them out.”
The tight fixed frame that cannot contain the dancing feet work in dialectic with the poem in what is another meditation on the joys and constraints of motherhood.
Public House by Laurie Bolger (@lauriebolger)
The film on Instagram. Here’s the link to Bolger’s website.
“A little poem about pubs” is how the author described this when she posted it, and it does have the casual feel of a cellphone film.
Love Loving by Sanah Ahsan (@psychology_and_poetry)
https://www.instagram.com/p/BUFyeP5jAwL/?taken-by=psychology_and_poetry
Her poem on Instagram.
Another film that documents a poet reading her poem. Sanah comments on her Instagram post, “Tonight has been incredible. I performed a piece that explored culture, mental health and identity as part of an upcoming @bbcthree documentary. Such a BLESSING to listen to and share honest stories about #mentalhealth in the #lgbtcommunity. Thank you for having me.”
Somewhere, Nowhere by Mark J. Rigby @filmmaker_markjrigby
https://www.instagram.com/p/BbXvE9EFZtJ/?taken-by=filmmaker_markjrigby
https://www.instagram.com/p/BbXvdPNlh9I/?taken-by=filmmaker_markjrigby
These are the links to the film on his Instagram page; the film was submitted in two parts. This is the link to his website.
In his comments on the Instagram post, Rigby notes that he wrote, performed and directed this film, which he describes as a “spoken word video … borne out of volunteer work for acting and drama workshops centred on homeless and vulnerable adults.” However, he does not film himself reciting his poem, and his piece has more of the feel of a music video.
Southwark Love Song by Claire Trevién (@ctrevien)
The film on her Instagram page. This is her poetry website.
In her comments, Trevién describes her piece as a “#poetryfilm of #foundpoetry collected around Southwark, London Bridge, etc.” This in one of a series of her poetryfilms that find a poem in the camera framing of portions of street signs, names of buildings, advertisement art, and more. The sound is whatever the camera mic records in real time. The technique is tantalizing, and certainly permits the intentional roughness of execution.
MAN by Tommy Evans (@tommya_manevans)
This is the film on #instapoetrylib. I believe this is the film on his Instagram page, although I don’t see either #instapoetrylib or @nationalpoetrylibrary in the comments.
Here is a longer version on his YouTube page; both of the Instagram films appear to be excerpts from the longer work. Here’s a post on his Twitter page about his film being exhibited at the National Poetry Library.
A spoken word poet performance that uses the jarring contrasts between medium shots and tight close-ups to suggest the contradictions in the social construction of masculinity.
We be in No Thing by Jason Kofi-Haye (@surf._ace)
This is the poem as it appears on #instapoetrylib. I could not locate this version on his Instagram page, but there are many variants of this work, which is an instance of a year-long project to use Instagram as a kind of artist’s sketch pad. This tendency to post variants, works-in-progress, and rough drafts is a strategy he uses not only on his Instagram page, but also on his other web and social media sites. To see more examples, search Instagram for #WeBeinNoThing.
And finally, one possible winner who got notified, but apparently wasn’t exhibited:
Receipt for our Romance, by Jade Cuttle (@jadecuttle)
That’s the film as it appears at #instapoetrylib.
The poem is represented as a cash register receipt, which the camera simply scrolls down. I find the technique quite clever, albeit probably unrepeatable.
More information on the National Poetry Library exhibit
There have been four posts on the National Poetry Society website: Instagram poetry; Celebrating Instagram Poetry at National Poetry Library; Instagram poetry is here – find out more in our podcast; and A new generation of poets emerges on Instagram. This last post, in which Jessica Atkinson, the National Poetry Library’s Digital Co-ordinator, discusses four of the Instagram poems included in the exhibition and what makes them stand out, is particularly interesting, since it provides some insight into the curation process.
And finally, stay tuned to the blog at littlethoughtspot.co.uk, which promises a review of the exhibition.
For more information about Instagram poets and poetry, here is a brief online bibliography:
Voices of the new ‘Instagram poets’ | Financial Times
The Life of an Instagram Poet | The New Yorker
Why Rupi Kaur and Her Peers Are the Most Popular Poets in the World | New York Times
The Poetry of Instagram | BBC Radio 4
Can Instagram Make Poems Sell Again? | Publishers Weekly
12 Instagram Poets to follow | HuffPost
Is It OK To Make Fun Of Instagram Poets? | Luna Luna Magazine
Instagram poets society: selfie age gives new life and following into poetry | The Guardian
And finally, an interview with Marisa Crane, who says,
I didn’t necessarily mean to cultivate such a large Instagram following. It all happened pretty organically, and I think it helps that I began posting my work right before the boom of Instagram poetry (which is going downhill now, and fast). I can remember sitting on my couch in 2012 reading a poem by Tyler Knott Gregson, which had been typed on a typewriter. He had thousands of likes on a piece that was, in my opinion, pretty basic. Not to say that it wasn’t intriguing or good, but it was short and easily digestible, which made it perfect for people scrolling quickly. I figured I’d take a stab at it, so I began posting some of my shorter poems on my Instagram, which had about 300 followers at the time. I even forgot to put my name under a few of them. For a while, nothing happened, and I didn’t care. I wasn’t posting to become Instagram famous. Then, I think sometime in 2014 some bigger poetry accounts, like Christopher Poindexter, began reposting my work, and it snowballed from there. I don’t particularly enjoy the medium anymore, as I feel that it’s on its way out. Instagram changed their algorithm, and it hurt engagement for a lot of people. I’m basically just riding it out until it becomes null and void.
Read the complete interview on Bekah Steimel’s blog. (Thanks to Dave Bonta for the link.)
There might be something in this: Maybe today everyone wants to be a poet, just like everyone wants to be a filmmaker. But when there are 5,000 submissions to some film festivals for the 60 or 70 spots available for films to be screened, maybe there is also something to be said for being able to post poems or films to social media sites, despite the overwhelming numbers that soon cry out for curation by means other than the viral. I believe Moving Poems is a valuable community in that regard.
Call for work: 2nd Newlyn International Film Festival
Submissions are open for the second annual Newlyn Film Festival, to be held at the southwestern tip of Cornwall in April 2019. Once again, poetry films under six minutes long are solicited, with poetry film scholar-practitioners Lucy English and Sarah Tremlett acting as judges. During the festival, I’m told, they’ll also be giving a talk about the genre. Which is great, because this is one of the few general film festivals to include a poetry film category. We get to break out of the poetry-film ghetto and mingle with other fimmakers! Maybe even make a few converts.
Please visit FilmFreeway for the complete details on how to submit. Note that all films must be in English or have English subtitles; there is a submission fee: £15 or $20; the deadline is January 31; and “Newlyn Film Festival does not require any premiere status, but notes that this may come into consideration during the selection process”. And as a fairly, um, basic filmmaker myself (who—full disclosure—had a poetry film chosen for last year’s screening), this is my favorite bit:
A film’s success is dependent not on its budget or length, but on its core vision and the creativity/efficiency with which it communicates that vision. Programs consist of these diverse visions assembled in an order and rhythm so that even in contrast each is mutually complimentary.
Updates from Art Visuals & Poetry / Vienna Poetry Film Festival
It’s the off-year for the biannual Poetry Film Festival in Vienna, but that doesn’t mean they’re sitting on their hands. Here’s the English-language portion of their latest emailed newsletter:
The preparations for the next Poetry Film Festival in Vienna have started. During the festival pause there are several poetry film screenings in Austria:
August, 15, 2018 Millstatt, Carinthia – curated by Hubert Sielecki
September 27, 2018, Austrian Society of Literature Vienna – curated by Anita C. Schaub
October 9, 2018, International Poetry Film screening, Künstlerhaus Vienna – curated by Sigrun HöllriglFor the ones, who want to submit again to the next poetry film festival. The submission period will start around begin of December 2018 and will last appr. until April 2019. The next festival will take place in November 2019 at Metro Kinokulturhaus Vienna. Keep in touch with informations in English on www.poetryfilm-vienna.com.
Film and Video Poetry Symposium, Weimar Poetry Film Prize announce winners
Back at the end of April, the Film and Video Poetry Society website had a post announcing the winning films coming out of their inaugural symposium, presented in image form, with no accompanying text. They were:
Best Choreopoem
Moving Southwark (director & poet Jevan Chowdhury, U.K., 2016)
Outstanding Poem
Oceanik (director Lucia Sellars, poet Nia Davies, U.K., 2017)
Best Film Essay
Where Is Eva Hipsey? (director Orla McHardy, writer Justin Spooner, U.S., 2016)
Best Experimental film
Phantom Cinema (writer & director Cheng Li-Ming, Taiwan, 2016)
Best Videopoem
Dog Daze (director & poet Ian Gibbins, Australia, 2017)
(Details grabbed from their previously published shortlist.)
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Earlier this week, the 2018 Weimar Poetry Film Prizes were announced on the Poetryfilmkanal website, in German. Here’s how Google translates the first part of the post:
The winners of the third Weimar Poetry Film Awards are the films THE DESKTOP METAPHOR (jury prize) and PATATA DAY (Audience Award). The jury also awarded a special mention to the film BLUE FLASH FLASH.
JURY PRIZE
The jury of the third Weimar Poetry Film Award, consisting of the Thuringian poet Daniela Danz, the artist and curator Cathy De Haan from Leipzig and the Norwegian animator Kristian Pedersen, chose the English entry THE DESKTOP METAPHOR (2017) as the winner of the €1000 jury prize. Directed by the Dutch director Helmie Stil; the underlying poem was written by the British author Caleb Parkin.
Google makes a hash of the jury statement, but here’s the film:
And here’s the winner of the jury’s Special Mention, Blue Flash Flash by Jane Glennie:
The Poetryfilmkanal post also includes a trailer for the winner of the audience award, but that’s their own upload, so you’ll have to click through to watch it.
Don’t miss the illustrated and annotated (in German and English) shortlist. These were a bunch of really strong films.
A belated but nonetheless heart-felt congratulations to all the winners!
Call for work: 6th annual Ó Bhéal International Poetry-Film Competition
Just received this communication from the Ó Bhéal International Poetry-Film Competition.
2018 is Ó Bhéal’s ninth year screening International poetry-films, and sixth year featuring this competition. Up to thirty films will be shortlisted and screened during the festival in October. One winner will receive the IndieCork/Ó Bhéal prize for best Poetry-Film.
The festival takes place between the dates of the 7th and the 14th October, 2018.
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
- 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.
You may submit as many entries as you like. Films must interpret, or convey a poem which must be present in its entirety, having been completed no earlier than August 2016. They may not exceed 10 minutes in duration. Non-English language films will require English subtitles. The final shortlist will be announced during September.
Shortlisted films also appear in Ó Bhéal’s poetry-film touring programme, at a number of film and literary festivals, to date including the Clare Island Film Festival, Belfast Film Festival, Stanzas in Limerick, the Cyclops festival in Kiev, Poemaria in Vigo and at the Madeira Literary Festival (2018). Shortlisted entries are also screened throughout the year from Ó Bhéal’s competition shortlist archive (in random), at the start of each Ó Bhéal poetry evening.
This year’s entries are judged by poet Oonagh Kearney and filmmaker Anamaria Crowe Serrano.
The submission deadline is August 15th, 2018.
