~ News and Views ~
6th International Video Poetry Festival in Athens, 19-20 January: full program released
Plans have been finalized and a press release issued for the 6th International Video Poetry Festival in Athens. It will be held at the Embros self-organized theater next Friday and Saturday, and includes the work of 134 video artists, filmmakers and poets from 25 countries, five performances with 21 live poets, three DJs with four live concerts, two video installations AND a book fair! (Have you ever heard of a poetry film festival with a book fair before? Me neither, but what a great idea!)
Here’s the full, profusely illustrated press release, and I’ll paste in the most informative of their posters below. I realize this is kind of short notice for people to make travel plans, but obviously it’s hard to make long-range plans for major events happening in unofficial spaces vulnerable to state repression. I have yet to attend one of these myself, but I got a first-hand report from friends who attended last years’, and they said the screening was extremely well-attended and the audience diverse and seemingly rapt (though perhaps a little too fond of cigarette smoking). The point is there’s more than one way to organize a videopoetry or poetry film festival, and I think it’s important to pay attention to how they’re doing it in Athens. This sounds like a really dynamic, exciting event.
Film festival news note: Newlyn extends deadline to 21 February
The deadline for submissions to the Newlyn Film Festival has been extended to February 21st. (It had been January 31.) This is the festival slated for April 6-8th on the southwestern tip of England with a special category for poetry films, to be judged by Lucy English and Sarah Tremlett. The director tells me they’ve had a good response from poetry filmmakers so far, so I guess we’re not the main reason the deadline has been extended, but don’t miss your chance to be a part of this brand-new festival. Here are the guidelines.
Motionpoems Season 8 premiere set for February 8 in New York
The Minnesota-based, nonprofit poetry film production company Motionpoems will be premiering its new season of films in New York City for the first time this year. (Get your tickets here.) But that’s only one of the things that makes this sound so intriguing.
To start with, they’re calling Season 8 “Dear Mr. President.” And they’ve produced films for poems by some of the hippest and most popular poets in the U.S., with directors from around the world:
Led by executive producer Claire McGirr, Motionpoems decided to tackle issues that affect everyone.
The season features poems that tackle racism, LGBTQIA+ rights, immigration, women’s rights, gun control, educational & social welfare, judicial system reform, climate change, and news/media/social platforms.
Our poets include Tiana Clark, Natalie Diaz, Eve L. Ewing, Peter LaBerge, Robin Coste Lewis, Sussanah Nevison, Danez Smith, Maggie Smith,LeeAnn Roripaugh, and Nomi Stone.
Their poems were adapted to film by Dan Daly, Kate Dolan, Mohammad Hamad, Anais La Rocca, Savanah Leaf, Monty Marsh, Jane Morledge, Ty Richardson, Ryan Simon, Tom Speers, Jovan Todorovic, and Tash Tung.
These issues affect populations internationally. Therefore, our filmmakers are international too. Hailing from America, England, Ireland, Saudi Arabia, Australia & Serbia, among others, this year our Directors are an eclectic collective of visionaries & artists.
Click through to reserve seats. The premiere is at the Anthology Film Archives, 32 2nd Avenue (at 2nd Street), New York, NY, and I’m told seating is limited. Between this event, and the New York-based Visible Poetry Project set to debut its second season of films in March, is it possible that the east-coast establishment arbiters of American literary taste will finally start paying attention to poetry film? Well, probably not, but we can always dream.
Call for entries: ZEBRA Poetry Film Festival 2018
If it’s an even-numbered year, you know that it’s time to start planning for the world’s biggest and most influential poetry film festival, ZEBRA. Their website has yet to be updated from 2016, but a call for entries has indeed been issued; you can find it on FilmFreeway in both German and English. I’ll take the liberty of pasting in the English version:
In 2018 the Filmwerkstatt Münster, in cooperation with Haus für Poesie, will host the ZEBRA Poetry Film Festival Münster|Berlin. The festival will be located at Schloßtheater, a repertory cinema in Münster.
Awards & Prizes
The prizes are endowed together with € 12.000. A programme commission is going to nominate the films for the festival and the competition. An international jury will choose the winning films.
The prizes that will be awarded are (i. a.):
- ZEBRA Prize for the Best Poetry Film, donated by Haus für Poesie
- The Goethe Film Prize, donated by the Goethe-Institut
- ZEBRINO Audience Award – Best Film for Children and Young People
- The Audience Award
Rules & Terms
The ZEBRA Poetry Film Festival Münster|Berlin 2018 is inviting entries for the competition for the best poetry film. Eligible for submission are short films based on poems.
The Festival is also inviting entries of films based on this year’s Festival poem, “Endless wall-to-wall carpet (of the VIP foyer)” by Ann Cotten. The directors of the three best films will be invited to Münster to meet the poet and have the opportunity to present and discuss their films. You can find the poem together with a sound recording and various translations at https://www.lyrikline.org/de/gedichte/unendlicher-spannteppich-des-vip-empfangsraums-8387#.WkYsv1XiZEY
The closing date for entries for all competitions is the 1st May 2018. All films submitted are automatically considered for all selection processes.
Deadline: 1st May 2018 (date as postmark)
Rules of Entry
1. The organizer of the ZEBRA Poetry Film Festival Münster|Berlin is the Filmwerkstatt Münster in cooperation with the Haus für Poesie.
2. Eligible for submission are poetry films with a maximum length of 15 minutes that were finished after 1st of January 2015. The ZEBRA Poetry Film Festival reserves the right to show films longer than 15 minutes in duration. All films submitted must be visual realisations of one or more poems. There are no language restrictions. Admissible formats are: DCP, Blu-ray, DVD as well as mp4 or mov files with a resolution of at least 720p or 1080p. All films that are not in English must have English subtitles.
3. The closing date for entries is the 1st May 2018 (date as postmark). Entries must be accompanied by a video file (preferably MPEG-4), Blu-Ray or DVD of the film for preview, a completed entry form, a digital film still (JPEG or TIFF, 300dpi), a translation of the poem into English or German, a short summary of the content, a biography of the poet and a biography and filmography of the director. All texts must be provided in digital form. Video files, DVDs or Blu-rays for preview purposes must be delivered within the period of submission (by the 1st May 2018) and will be retained for storing in the festival archives. The preview copies will only be returned at the express wish and expense of the sender.
4. A programme committee will select the films for the competitions and recommend films for other sections of the programme. All films submitted will automatically be considered for all selection processes. An international jury, consisting of at least three members, will choose the winning films. Those involved in the production or commercial exploitation of any of the competition films may not be part of the jury. The audience will vote the winners of the Audience Award and the ZEBRINO Prize.
5. The jury’s verdict will be taken by simple majority. The discussions and the votes will proceed in confidentiality.
6. The prizes are endowed with a total of € 12.000. The sponsor will present the winning director with a cheque or by bank transfer for this amount.
7. All entrants will be informed via e-mail of the results of the call for entries in mid-July 2018. Please make sure that your e-mail address is correct and legible. No enquiries about the selection process will be answered before mid-July 2018.
8. Submitting the ZEBRA Poetry Film Festival Münster|Berlin is free of charge!
9. By submitting your film, you confirm that the film may be shown at the Festival. The film may no longer be withdrawn once the entry form has been sent off. The sender is required to obtain permission from any third parties involved in the production to agree to the film being screened at the festival.
10. The transportation costs of the film copy to the festival will be charged to the sender. There will be no screening fee for submitted films that are selected for the competition.
11. For the duration of the festival the film will be insured at copy value. Insurance protection begins with the arrival of the copy at the festival office and ends on its leaving. If a copy should be damaged, the sender must register that damage within one month from the end of festival. The festival will assume the cost of repair to a maximum amount equivalent to the manufacturing costs of a copy in the same format.
12. By arrangement with the owners of the rights, the Filmwerkstatt Münster and the Haus für Poesie will show selected Festival films as part of non-commercial selection screenings following on from the ZEBRA Poetry Film Festival Münster|Berlin.
13. Registration for participation at the ZEBRA Poetry Film Festival Münster|Berlin 2018 will be deemed to entail acceptance of these rules of entry. The festival management is entitled to decide on any case not covered by the guidelines and to permit exceptions in special cases.
Conversation with Poetry Film Live editors
Last summer, I met with Helen Dewbery and Chaucer Cameron, the editors of Poetry Film Live and co-producers of many poetry films themselves, for a wide-ranging discussion that lasted several hours. Helen has just edited and released an 11-minute video from that conversation:
I’m told that at least one more selection from our conversation might be in the works. In the meantime, I believe there are still some openings for the two-day workshop Helen and Chaucer are leading in Poole on 13-14 January.
Film Poetry Weekend Course in Poole, UK, January 13-14
This sounds like a terrific deal: a two-day workshop with Helen Dewbery and Chaucer Cameron (Elephant’s Footprint, Poetry Film Live) for less than £20. Here’s the description on Eventbright:
As part of Light Up Poole’s film poetry competition, Poole Museum are hosting this fantastic film poem weekend course. Learn the ins and outs of film poetry on this two-day course, led by Helen Dewberry and Chaucer Cameron.
Day 1 (10am-4pm)
Day one will be an introduction to film poetry, from theory to practise. By the end of the day, you will have created your very own film poem, and have an understanding of its significance, as well as the various genres.
- Understanding film poetry.
- Genre.
- The creative process – text, filming, sound and editing.
- Creating your first film poem using archive footage.
Day 2 (12pm-4pm)
Participants will be supported to plan and make their own personal film poem. You are welcome to bring your own equipment for this process.
We will give a demonstration using iMovie. For Windows users, please download Movie Maker before the session. You are welcome to use any other software you are familiar with.
Limited editing equipment is available for loan during the sessions.
For more information and concessions, email matt@artfulscribe.co.uk.
If you’re a poet curious about poetry film, and especially if you’d like to enter the Lighthouse Poole competition judged by Lucy English and Sarah Tremlett, here’s your chance. Click through to register.
Chaucer Cameron and Helen Dewbery
Speaking of Chaucer and Helen, be sure to visit Poetry Film Live. They’ve got the Christmas decorations up and are posting new poetry films and features all month long.
Poetry film festival news round-up
Current open calls for submission
Some upcoming deadlines:
- 2018 Film and Video Poetry Symposium (31 December)
- Light Up Poole (26 January)
- Newlyn Film Festival (31 January)
- Weimar Poetry Film Award (31 January)
Winners announced for VI CYCLOP International Poetry Film Festival
An email newsletter on Tuesday shared the results of the just-concluded festival in Kyiv, Ukraine:
Breaking News! ⚡
Yesterday, November 26, at the closure of the VI CYCLOP Videopoetry Festival at Port Creative Hub, the winners of the CYCLOP Videopoetry Contests were announced and summed up.
Time to announce winners!
🏅 Nomination «Debut» | Ukrainian program
Oleksandra Proms’ka «When the sun has long gone …» (Rivne)🏅 Nomination «Experiment» | Ukrainian program
Eugene Umanov «A rubber little ball» (Mykolayiv)🏆 Audience Award | International program
Radheya Jegatheva «iRony» (Australia)🏆 Audience Award | Ukrainian program
Eugene Vorozheykin «Lonely Man» (Kyiv)🥉 3rd place | Ukrainian program
Arsen Podosyan «It’s worth it?» (Odesa)🥈 2nd place | Ukrainian program
Eugene Vorozheykin «Lonely Man» (Kyiv)🥇 1st place | Ukrainian program
Olha Fraze-Frazenko «The blindworm» (Lviv)🥇 1st place | International program
Manuel Vilarinho «Calling All» (Portugal)Congratulations to the winners! :) 👏
Visit the CYLOP Facebook page for photos from the festival.
Cinema Poetica winners
This small festival debuted in Oregon in late October. I received an email from the director back on Nov. 18 and forgot to post it:
Kudos and congratulations! Cinema Poetica 2017 screened ten short poetry films at our first international festival. The ten films:
City of My Heart, Kostas Petsas, Greece (Grand Prize Winner)
Love’s River of Errors, Dave Richardson, U.S. (Audience Favorite)
Falling, Dave Bonta, U.S. (Finalist)
Spring on the Strand, AD Cooper, U.K. (Finalist)
Old Rain Temple, Kim Stafford, U.S.(Finalist)
Letter from Avostanis, Luca Fornasiero, Italy
Body Talk, Amy Bobeda, U.S.
Night Court, Erica Goss, U.S.
Love, Judith Barrington, U.S.
I’ve Never Felt this Way Before, Courtney Ross, U.S.All viewable at https://vimeo.com/album/4821195
A month of women’s poetry film: some observations and questions
Film critic Laura Mulvey in 2010 (photo: Mariusz Kubik, CC BY 3.0)
Did you notice? I didn’t notice myself until about two weeks in that I’d only been posting videos or films directed by women and featuring the work of women poets. At that point, I wondered how long I could keep it up (pretty much indefinitely, it turns out) and whether anyone would ever notice and ask about it (no one has). The last video featuring a male poet was on 27 October (“The Laundry Can Wait” by Cyril Wong, directed by Sarah Howell), and the last film directed by a man was on 24 October (“Dancing Lesson” by Rachel Kann, directed by Bradford L. Cooper). Which is not to say that men haven’t played key roles in making some of the things I’ve featured since, as editors, videographers, composers, etc., just that women occupied the lead roles.
The point of this post is not what a great, enlightened guy I am (ask my partner how often I interrupt her in the course of an average conversation). But it seemed like a fitting response to the on-going revelations of rampant sexual harassment and assault in Hollywood and beyond. And the exercise does raise some interesting questions, I think:
1. There are a LOT of good women directors of poetry films at all levels of professionalism and ability. So many of them are now “regulars” at Moving Poems that I can go quite a few days without posting anything made by a man, purely by chance, just as sometimes I may go for a week or two without posting any women. Does this mean that the number of men and women active in poetry film and videopoetry is roughly equal? Or might it be partly because male directors gravitate toward certain types of poetry (Charles Bukowski, for example) or filmmaking (superficially pretty shots) that don’t interest me as much? I’m really not sure.
2. Contrary to stereotype, female poets might be, if anything, less likely than their male counterparts to shy away from the technical challenges of making their own videopoems. Or perhaps women are just more adventuresome, or less likely than men to be narrowly focused on following traditional routes of advancement as poets?
3. Thinking about the major, long-term collaborative partnerships in the world of English-language poetry film, I actually can’t think of any that are exclusively male. If both partners aren’t female, than either the poet or the filmmaker is going to be a woman. I’m sure there must be exceptions to this, but the fact that I can’t think of any off-hand dovetails with another thought I’ve often had over the years: Could it be that women are more open to creative collaboration in general?
4. As hybrid forms, videopoetry and poetry film benefit from hybrid visions. An openness to collaboration would therefore be a huge advantage. But mightn’t it also be a disadvantage from a careerist perspective, luring people away from a single-minded focus on their own work necessary to, for example, qualify for tenure at an American university?
5. The male gaze has long been a tool of oppression, reducing women to objects. It’s worth remembering that this very insight came originally from a feminist film critic (Laura Mulvey). So wanting to have more women behind the camera is potentially more than just a matter of wanting to be fair and give equal opportunity. Might it not open up the possibility of depicting the world in new, potentially revolutionary ways, as feminist film critics suggest? What might the female gaze and hypermediacy mean for poetry film in particular?
6. Do videopoems or poetry films made by women have any unique characteristics that we might identify? For example, are there certain kinds of shots that female filmmakers use more often than men? Do women gravitate more than men to certain strategies of juxtaposition or disjunction in videopoetry?
7. What about poems and films of feminist advocacy? Is it possible to be prescriptive and suggest the best poetry film-making strategies to move viewers toward a greater sympathy with and understanding of diverse perspectives?
8. I’m obviously no scholar, but I can think of one cynical explanation for why women directors and poets might be so well represented in poetry film and videopoetry right now: it’s not prestigious yet. Historically speaking, as soon as a woman-dominated art, craft or industry begins to make money, men elbow in and quickly take over, whether it’s brewing beer, making textiles, or even writing computer code — a woman-dominated field until the mid 1970s. Could the same thing happen with poetry film? If it does, one day editors like me might have to work quite a bit harder to avoid posting any male-directed films for a month.
I invite comments below on any of these points. Email me if you’d like to submit a post. (And personal stories are just as welcome as critical analysis.)
Ending net neutrality in the U.S. could be the end of Moving Poems
This week, I didn’t share any new videos at Moving Poems because it was a major holiday in the U.S. and not too many people were online. But if the new FCC chair (and former Verizon lawyer) Ajit Pai gets his way and net neutrality rules are overturned, my posts might be this sparse every week. Why? Because without net neutrality, it’s difficult to imagine that no-budget and low-budget filmmakers, video artists and remixers will be able to keep doing what they’re doing. Want to find good indie music for a soundtrack, for example? Good luck with that.
So imagine for a second a musician sells their own digital music — on their website, on Bandcamp, wherever. iTunes is riding in that fast lane. Spotify? Probably. But Bandcamp? The musician’s website? They’re more like a rusty BMX pulling a three-wheeled Radio Flyer wagon over a cracked sidewalk.
When someone buys digital music from an artist directly they’ll see long, slow downloads that hopefully manage to finish. When they stream music from that same musician’s site it’ll hang and pause unless it’s compressed to hell. But when that same person buys from iTunes? Smooth like butter.
Some fans will put up with the frustrating experience of buying direct from an artist because they know it’s better for them, but that’s not everyone. Expect direct-to-fan artist businesses to migrate to iTunes and Google. Without Title II net neutrality the web is just a battle of media titans with musicians caught in the crossfire. Artists who don’t sign everything over to big labels or plan to sell only through the biggest outlets will be hurt. The independent music world will be fundamentally changed. We’ve moved to a digital world. That isn’t going to change. Killing Title II net neutrality makes it even harder for independent musicians to survive in a digital landscape.
It’s hard to know what will happen with the big video hosting sites such as Vimeo and YouTube, but several analyses I’ve seen suggest they’ll become an extra paid option for most users, who might well just decide to stick with Netflix or Hulu. Websites like Moving Poems and Poetry Film Live are way out in the “long tail” of the internet — we’re nobody’s economic priority, and as the African proverb says, when elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers.
To put it simply, this is an existential threat to the internet as we know it. Here’s comedian John Oliver’s excellent and entertaining explainer from last May:
Public pressure is really critical over the next three weeks. So please help if you can — especially if you’re a U.S. citizen — and submit comments to the FCC as well as call or write to Congress, and consider joining street protests.
Hopefully this will all be going to court, and if this TechCrunch article is correct, the FCC may have a hard time justifying its definition of how the internet works. For more political analysis, here are Cenk Uygur and Ana Kasparian from the Young Turks:
As for me, I agree with this guy:
https://twitter.com/daveanthony/status/933237649980121088
Poetry Film Competition: Light Up Poole
Submissions are requested from poets and filmmakers as part of Light Up Poole, a unique digital Light Art Festival aiming to transform Poole’s town centre after dark from 15-17 February 2018.
Focussing on a theme of ‘Identity’, festival organisers are looking for films, up to a maximum of three minutes, that address the topic and consider how identity is reflected in contemporary society. What does it mean to be an individual, a member of a family, a worker in the city, in a rural setting, a person living in Britain today?
For the purpose of this submission request, a poetry film is defined as a fusion of spoken/written word with visual images where the combination of media provide a richer experience than either the spoken/written word or visual images could do on their own. In this instance, a poetry film isn’t simply a video recording of a poet reading a poem. The poetry film can also include music.
Prizes
Ten short-listed films will be shown at select venues in Poole’s town centre throughout the duration of the festival, with further screenings as a prelude to main cinema screenings at Lighthouse Poole during March/April 2018. The winning film will receive £500, to be shared between poet and film-maker in the case of collaborations.
Links to films must be received by 26th January 2018. High Definition files will be required for short-listed films.
Please send to matt@artfulscribe.co.uk
Judges
Lucy English is co-creator of the poetry film organisation, Liberated Words, which curates and screens poetry films. Lucy is best known as a performance poet who has published three novels and is currently a Reader at Bath Spa University where she teaches on the undergrad and Master’s Creative Writing courses. Her specialisms include writing for digital platforms.
Sarah Tremlett, MPhil, FRSA, SWIP, is a British poetry filmmaker, artist and arts theorist/writer, with a first-class honours degree in Fine Art and an MA in Creative Writing from Bath Spa University. In 2012, she co-founded Liberated Words poetry film events with poet and novelist Lucy English to screen international poetry filmmakers alongside films made in the community, and co-conceived MIX conference, Bath Spa University.
Guidelines
Entry is free to anyone, and should be made via email to matt@artfulscribe.co.uk 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, be based on, or convey the festival theme. Non-English language films will require English subtitles.
Art Visuals & Poetry Film Festival Vienna 2017 winners announced
From the front page of poetryfilm-vienna.com/en:
ART VISUALS & POETRY FILMFESTIVAL VIENNA NOV 4 – 6, 2017
The award winners 2017
People, we had three great days with lots of fantastic poetry shorts. The festival donates 5 prizes. The festival awarded the Austrian animator Gudrun Krebitz for her film “Exomoon” with the main festival prize. The Rilke Competition prize or Special Award goes to Sebastian and Daniel Selke for their interpretation “rilke überoffen”. The only Honorable Mention of the Vienna Poetry Film Festival goes to Andrea Capranico from Italy for “The Landscape Within”. The Hubert Sielecki Award for the best Austrian poetry film of the festival goes to Moritz Stieber “Die Tatsachen im Fall Waldemar”. The OKTO audience award goes to Christian Heinbockel for his film “Lass uns von Liebe sprechen” or “Let´s speak about love”. Stay tuned. We will publish the jury statements soon!
Go here for the post in German.
