~ News and Views ~
Tom Konyves at Poetryfilmkanal on “Redefining poetry in the age of the screen”
Poetryfilmkanal have just launched a new series of short, guest-contributed commentaries on “the fascination of poetry-film,” beginning with the Canadian videopoetry pioneer Tom Konyves. I found his essay, “Redefining poetry in the age of the screen,” admirably clear and precise. He begins by discussing semantics, anticipating, I think the usual objection from British and German commentators that film is a better word than video.
Man Ray’s »cinépoème« and Maya Deren’s »filmpoem« sang the praises of film at a time when commercial/entertainment ventures first threatened the aesthetic potential of the new art form of film; it was not about exploring a new form for poetry. In the early ’80s, William C. Wees recognized that the use of poems had become prevalent in short films; he differentiated these »poetry-films« from »film poems«, i.e. poetic films, including films without words. Substituting »video« for »film« effectively deflected the »mystique« of celluloid from the conversation.
Konyves also suggests that terms in which poetry follow rather than precede film- or video- are preferable if you want to give primacy to the poetry rather than to the film. This is certainly true for English, where word-order plays a key role in semantics. Given how international and multilingual poetry-film and videopoetry have become, however, I think it’s incumbent on all of us who think critically about the genre(s) to try to understand how a poetry-first or film-first emphasis might best be expressed in each language.
In the second part of the essay, Konyves strikes a distinctly conciliatory, even ecumenical tone for someone best known in recent years for a manifesto:
Similarly, not all texts, including written-poems, can be expected to produce a desired new meaning when juxtaposed with images. If the written-poem was originally perfect, it would not need to be completed with images. Yet videos are made to promote these written-poems and are most worthwhile; otherwise these poems would not reach a wide public. Their »meaning« is not intended to change nor will it change in a visual context.
I’m not sure I agree that there’s such a thing as a perfect, finished poem, and therefore I like to imagine that it might be possible for a true videopoem to be made with any poetic text. But that’s kind of an absolutist position, I guess, and could easily be used to devalue films/videos that are simply made to promote poems, rather than recognizing them as equally worthwhile as Konyves does.
Brief as it is, I found the essay thought-provoking. Regular visitors to Moving Poems won’t be surprised to hear that I very much agree with Konyves’ over-all emphasis on videopoetry as poetry. My own, upcoming essay in this series will be much sloppier in its terminology, I’m afraid. In part, that’s because of my role as a blogger/curator rather than a theorist or critic: I tend to accept whatever terms poets and filmmakers themselves use for their creations. But I do fear that my use of “videopoetry” as the catch-all category at Moving Poems has muddied things a bit.
Fortunately, we have Tom Konyves to step forward periodically and clarify things as only he can. Go read.
“Seminario de Videopoesía” offered in Buenos Aires
Javier Robleda will be teaching a course on videopoetry from June 10 to July 1 at Universidad Nacional de las Artes in Buenos Aires. The course is called “Un lenguaje entre la palabra, el sonido y la imagen en movimiento”—”A language between word, sound and moving images”—and it’s open to the general public as well as to students and faculty. All the essential details may be found on the university’s website. There’s also a PDF document with the full program. The objective of the course:
Comprender el lenguaje videopoético, sus códigos y cómo interactúan entre sí: lenguaje verbal, lenguaje sonoro e imagen en movimiento, entendiendo por videopoema a aquellas obras audiovisuales en que el lenguaje verbal poético (palabra, escritura, letra, discurso, habla, signo, símbolo); es protagonista.
[To understand the language of videopoetry, its codes and how they interact with each other: verbal language and the language of sound and moving image. By videopoetry, we mean those audiovisual works in which a poetic, verbal language (word, writing, letter, discourse, speaking, sign, symbol) is the protagonist.]
Javier Robledo is of course the founder and director of the long-running VideoBardo festival, as well as an accomplished videopoet in his own right.
Upcoming poetry-film screenings in Münster, Weimar, and Leeds
As reported last week, this is coming up on Wednesday:
May 6 in Münster
Best of ZEBRA Poetry Film Festival 2014: AUSLESE. The third of three events presented by Filmwerkstatt Münster in the Palace Theatre, compiled and moderated by the ZEBRA program director Thomas Zandegiacomo Del Bel.
Aus den Einsendungen des ZEBRA 2014 präsentieren wir das breite Spektrum des deutschen und internationalen Poesiefilms. Krisen, Sehnsüchte, Angst, Lust und Liebe bilden eine gelungene Mischung.
I’ve also learned of two more screenings to be held on the following days:
May 7 in Weimar
ESP//Babelsprech//Poetryfilmkanal Poesie-Film-Performance
Poesie-Film-Performance
Filme: Meng Chang, Katharina Merten, Eva-Maria Arndt, Juliane Jaschnow
Lesung: Daniel Schmidt, Antje Kersten
Performance: Oravin, Zuzana Husárová, Amalia Roxana Filip
Moderation: Max Czollek & Aline Helmcke
May 8 in Leeds
Words In Motion – an evening of video poetry and performance
Leeds launch of Paisley Quilt and Pillion by Bristol film-maker Pru Fowler and Leeds poet Becky Cherriman. Introduced by Siobhan MacMahon with a special showing of her film Forgotten Memory. Features performances by poets Michelle Scally Clarke, Antony Dunn and Char March, and an open mic element.
2015 Art Visuals & Poetry Film Festival open to submissions from German-speaking countries
METRO Kinokulturhaus, Vienna
The Vienna-based Art Visuals & Poetry Film Festival has opened submissions to their 2015 competition — but only to residents of Austria, Germany and Switzerland, or filmmakers with citizenship in those countries. A more international “special prize” can’t be given this year for budgetary reasons, they say; focusing on the three German-speaking countries (rather than just Austria) for the main competition is therefore a compromise. (Or so I gather from Google’s not terribly adequate machine translation.) A grand prize winner will be awarded 400 Euros, and announcements of other prizes will be forthcoming.
The festival is also moving to a new venue this year: METRO Kinokulturhaus, “one of the most beautiful cinemas in Vienna.” An exact date has yet to be announced.
Submissions are through an online form, and the deadline is September 15.
Jutta Pryor and Marie Craven featured at Connotation Press
Interviews with Australian poetry-film makers Jutta Pryor and Marie Craven are the focus of Erica Goss’ column “The Third Form” at Connotation Press this month. I’ve long been an admirer of both, so it was interesting to learn about their routes into online collaboration and filmmaking. “Poetry is an inspirational starting point that lends itself to creative interpretation and collaboration by bringing together writers, filmmakers, remixers, sound artists and actors to create poetry film,” says Pryor. And Craven notes that poetry film is “like collage, or quilting. You enjoy the surprise, and never know what you’ll find. I don’t plan things out too much, but let the process dictate the final product.” Go read.
Poetry-film screenings and exhibitions in May
This is everything I have a date and link for at present. (Upcoming events for PoetryFilm also include a “PoetryFilm event at The Groucho Club, London (UK)” sometime in May.)
All month (through June 7) in Taichung, Taiwan
TYPEMOTION: Type as Image in Motion exhibition.
All month (through July 5) in Montreal
Carrefour Vidéo-poétique video installation.
May 6 in Münster
Best of ZEBRA Poetry Film Festival 2014: AUSLESE. The third of three events presented by Filmwerkstatt Münster in the Palace Theatre, compiled and moderated by the ZEBRA program director Thomas Zandegiacomo Del Bel.
Aus den Einsendungen des ZEBRA 2014 präsentieren wir das breite Spektrum des deutschen und internationalen Poesiefilms. Krisen, Sehnsüchte, Angst, Lust und Liebe bilden eine gelungene Mischung.
May 21 in Minneapolis
Motionpoems Season 6 World Premiere.
For season 6, we’ve partnered with VIDA: Women in Literary Arts to produce a season by incredible female poets and a diverse array of amazing independent filmmakers from around the world.
We’ll premiere them for the first time on the big screen at the Walker Art Center Cinema in Minneapolis on May 21, and you’re invited.
Two screenings: 6:00pm and 8:00pm with a half-hour panel discussion taking place after the 6 pm screening. Each screening will last less than 60 minutes and will be hosted by Motionpoems Artistic Director Todd Boss. Many featured poets and filmmakers will be on hand. It’ll be a night of great poetry brought to cinematic life!
For more information (including a list of all 20 films), see the Motionpoems news page.
May 24 in Edinburgh
Filmpoem Festival Fifteen at Hidden Door.
Filmpoem Festival 15 will be an open-ended series of events and screenings. After our successful Antwerp festival in 2014, we are working this year with The Poetry Society and a series of universities and poetry festivals, presenting Filmpoem’s established mix of poetryfilm, live film performance, poets, filmmakers, and discussions.
Deadlines approach for Filmpoem Festival, ‘Bring a Poem to Life’ competition, and Rabbit Heart
Two calls for work previously announced here are closing in early May, while a third stays open until July 1, allowing a little more time for procrastinators (in whose company I proudly include myself). Those submission deadlines:
- May 1: Filmpoem Festival Fifteen
- May 5: “Bring a Poem to Life” competition for UK secondary school students
- July 1: 2015 Rabbit Heart Poetry Film Festival
In the much longer term, submissions to Carbon Culture‘s $1000 poetry film prize are open until January 1. But there’s been a little more information about it since I originally posted their call:
Zata Kitowski, director of PoetryFilm, will pick the grand prize winner and finalists. The winning entry will receive $1,000.00. The top five entries will receive high-profile placements across a number of networks, note in a one page ad alongside honorable mentions in our newsstand print and device editions. All entries are considered for sponsored entry to our list of film festivals and poetry film festivals.
And speaking of Zata Banks (née Kitowski), it’s worth pointing out that submissions to PoetryFilm never close — there’s no deadline whatsoever. Which does put us procrastinators in a bit of a bind.
Registrations open for videopoetry workshop with Swoon at Annikki Poetry Festival
From the Anniki Poetry Festival website:
A free video poetry workshop will be organized on Friday, June 5, 2015 from 9.30 AM to 4 PM. The workshop will be held by Swoon, a.k.a. Marc Neys from Belgium, who is one of the world’s most renowned video poets. Attendance is free of charge, but requires a binding advance registration. The workshop is part of the Annikki OFF program and is organized by the Annikki Poetry Festival and the Sampola library.
WorkshopThe workshop will be held in English. Attendees are asked to bring along a laptop and/or digital camera. Smart phone cameras are also allowed. While laptop computers are not obligatory, they will enable participants to engage in writing the texts for the video poems. This is a hands-on workshop that will teach participants through first-hand experiences. During the workshop day attendees will compose one finished video poem, which will be presented the next day during the international video poetry showcase at the Annikki Poetry Festival.
RegistrationPlease direct all queries and sign-ups to simo.ollila(a)gmail.com. The workshop group is limited to the first 16 participants.
*
Speaking of workshops, the Split This Rock Poetry Festival in Washington, D.C. would be an ideal venue for a videopoetry workshop, I think. Check out their call for proposals (deadline: June 30).
The Art of Poetry Film with Cheryl Gross: “When At A Certain Party In NYC”
When At A Certain Party In NYC
Poem by Erin Belieu
Animation by Amy Schmitt
View at Motionpoems
This has to be one of the most charming video poems I have seen so far.
For starters, the animation is delightful: well stylized and flawlessly (graphically) designed. I am not usually a huge fan of Adobe Illustrator (I believe that is the program Amy Schmitt used to create the artwork for the animation), but in this case the simplicity of her art complements the poem perfectly. The speed and timing with which the graphics are deployed is seamless. The imagery doesn’t overshadow the poem but brings out the poet’s sense of humor. I could go on and on about the execution of the art, but long story short, it’s great.
The dryness of the poetry and the innocence of the art combine for a perfect fit. Our main character will never be part of the New York scene. She leaves the city not necessarily defeated, but with an acquired knowledge and awareness. It’s the realization that it’s all a bunch of bullshit, so why bother?
The message is very specific in terms of coming from a place like the Midwest and going to NYC. In other words, it’s basically a reality check. Belieu points out the pretentiousness of the whole hipster-scene phenomenon, which has gotten completely out of control. As a matter of fact, as long as I can remember, every scene has gotten out of control whether it’s the hipster regime, area- or zipcode-envy. People dream of coming to a place like New York for countless reasons. Some seek stardom and others are just looking for a more accepting lifestyle, a place to fit in. When they arrive, they either feel right at home or on another planet. I myself, a native New Yorker, ironically can relate to the Midwesterner who decides not to stay. I like to take a step back sometimes and observe the people who have come to my home town, agree to pay the high rents and act out their fantasies—which may or may not include someone like me, for of a whole slew of reasons. It is this trite behavior that Belieu has exposed and pokes fun at. Her vision makes me to laugh, and I could not agree more.
The music is great and adds to the nostalgic, late 50s-early 60s, plastic backdrop. I love this video poem. It’s superbly done on every level.
Crowdfunding campaigns for Hidden Door Festival and the Poetry Circus
Hidden Door is “a not for profit arts festival that takes place in abandoned or hidden places in Edinburgh,” and this year “will be transforming another venue and providing a unique mix of visual art, music, theatre, dance and cinema,” including a programme of poetry films from Filmpoem, from Friday May 22nd through Saturday May 30th. If you’d like to help support them, they’re looking for sponsors, and they’re also trying to raise £8500 through a crowdfunding campaign.
What we are trying to do is incredibly ambitious – 60 visual arts installations, 20 theatre productions, a cinema programme and live music programme every night. It’s a chance for emerging and established artists to do something completely new, to push their creativity to the limits and welcome new audiences in the thousands to be inspired by the extraordinary world that we will create for these 9 days.
We need to raise around £80k in total purely from ticket & bar sales to the festival and our own fundraising efforts. This all goes towards regenerating the site (an incredible but currently derelict secret courtyard location in the Grassmarket!) and covering the essential costs of putting on the festival – such as generators and electricity, materials for the installations, equipment for music & theatre performances, projectors, toilets, licenses and everything else involved in putting a festival on in a new and disused venue like this.
Expanded Poetry Circus could include film
California poet Nicelle Davis is on a mission to make poetry events more vital and more carnivalesque. Regular Moving Poems readers will recognize her as a collaborator on videopoems with Cheryl Gross and Anita Clearfield and an advocate for the genre generally. But her passion for finding fun and innovative ways to spread her love of poetry extends well beyond film. For several years now, she’s been doing community poetry-promotion events under the umbrella of the Living Poetry Project, and with the publication of her latest book, In the Circus of You, she felt inspired to launch her most ambitious project yet: a real, live poetry circus on February 28th at the People’s Park in Los Angeles, featuring a poetry merry-go-round, circus acts, kid crafts, and magic shows. It was, by all accounts, a huge success.
Now Nicelle’s looking ahead: “To fund a Summer of Circus!” Depending on the response to her crowd-funding campaign, the Poetry Circus could come to Colorado, Utah, Minneapolis, and San Diego — as well as making a return visit to Los Angeles in September. And “between these larger events I would like to host ‘sideshows’ which I call the GWHO Poetry Parties; the GWHO Poetry Parties are geeky burlesque-like shows that feature poetry focused on the freaky aspects of being human.” It all sounds pretty amazing, but what about poetry film? Nicelle responded in an email:
SURE! We can show films at the Poetry Circus… in fact I know just the Circus Theater for a poetry film festival. I love the idea of layering film with performance. Something like this or this explained like this.
The basic philosophy behind the Poetry Circus is very attractive indeed:
The Poetry Circus is part workshop, community outreach, performance, ride, dance, and creations. This community focused and driven event blurs the line between performer and audience to allow everyone the chance to run away and join the circus.
By presenting poetry in an alternative venue, the egalitarian characteristics of poetry are amplified. Poetry IS for everyone, regardless of where we come from or how we got there; we all process and understand the world through metaphor.
Read more (and consider making a donation).
Sigrun Höllrigl: Ten Atypical Poetry Films
The idea of my film collection was to leave behind the common definitions of what a poetry film means and offer in addition to other curators an atypical poetry film collection. In the Anglo-American definitions, a poetry film is based on a poem. As director of the Poetry Film Festival Vienna, I personally support a broader definition: A poetry film in my view is based either on a poetic experience or on a literary text. These texts can be experimental or spoken word or include letters and be in a abstract way close to fine arts (“Schriftfilm”). In some cases, text can be
missing altogether when the film circles around poetry.
Another aim was to present films which have been successful in established art contexts such as museums, exhibitions, or renowned short film festivals. I also included some examples of famous film makers who did films close to a text film, and I focused on the idea of changing the perception of the audience through the art work. Enjoy!
Shakespeare’s Sonnets – Sonnet 66
Robert Wilson with music by Rufus Wrainwright (2009)
Robert Wilson’s Shakespeare sonnets for Berliner Schaubühne became very famous. It’s a high level of visualizing a poem. Impressive threshold for every poetry film maker!
Tir’d with all these, for restful death I cry,
As, to behold desert a beggar born,
And needy nothing trimm’d in jollity,
And purest faith unhappily forsworn,
And guilded honour shamefully misplaced,
And maiden virtue rudely strumpeted,
And right perfection wrongfully disgraced,
And strength by limping sway disabled,
And art made tongue-tied by authority,
And folly (doctor-like) controlling skill,
And simple truth miscall’d simplicity,
And captive good attending captain ill:
Tired with all these, from these would I be gone,
Save that, to die, I leave my love alone.
Lady Lazarus (poems by Sylvia Plath)
Sandra Lahire, 1991
http://vimeo.com/59413160
Sandra Lahire was a leading feminist and lesbian film maker in Britain. Her film about Sylvia Plath can be described as a mixture between a poetry film and a documentary. The film shows a deep understanding and visualization of Plath’s dangerous views to face reality. Sandra Lahire suffered from anorexia and died in 2001.
Un Chien Andalou
Luis Buñuel, 1928
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCl_8522FF0
The film Un Chien Andalou from 1928 is a famous historical film – a manifest of Surrealism. Picture and story follow a dream logic. Even though the highest valued expression in Surrealism was writing, Buñuel and many surrealists did not want to use words in their films. Buñuel created his poetic experience in Un Chien Andalou without any dialogue. The poetic spirit is part of the visual expression. This understanding became the dominating credo of the film world: Let’s be poetic without using words.
Inga Fler Ord
Tomas Stark and Jerker Beckman, 2012
This film is also nearly without words, but also deeply poetic. The subject of the film is a female writer writing poetry. She fights against writer’s block and finds her inspiration in a dog’s barking. The film starts with a credo of Antonin Artaud: “I have told you: No works, no language, no words, no spirit, nothing. Nothing except for the scale where the nerves are weighted.”
coração (heart)
Marcello Sahea, 2013
During two months, some friends and other interested people were invited to participate by sending short clips of their naked bodies, filmed by themselves with any types of cameras. The video poem shows the fragility of the human body. Even though there’s some poetry included, the film works basically with picture and sound.
Brazil
Giga Chkheidze, 2000
Watch at cultureunplugged.com.
Brazil presents a superficial view of a fictitious protagonist as a kind of satire. It exposes the emphasis on reasonable behavior and the irrationality lurking beneath. The film is part of the MOMA collection NY. The real meaning of the words is unsaid — it comes up in between all the elements: language, picture and music.
The Alphabet
David Lynch, 1968
Schriftfilm — David Lynch offers in his perfect animation a way to experience the alphabet between a children’s view and a nightmare.
Windows
Peter Greenaway, 1974
Welcome to humor! Peter Greenaway shows a great reinterpretation of how we could tell a story. The film is about falling out from the window. Greenaway combines text and picture opening up a weird logic. Rational behavior is pretended, but the opposite — irrationalism — comes through. Outstanding, very funny, a great film and a pleasure to watch!
Blue (Part 1)
Derek Jarman, 1993
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVaC3XKSi5M
The director Derek Jarman was partially blind while he made this film, suffering complications from AIDS. The film is highly biographical and this seems to be a particularly strong aspect behind the lack of visuals, which offers us a radical and minimalistic approach to how to make poetry film. Watch the full film version (75 minutes).
Confessions 7
Ignas Krunglevičius, 2011
Krunglevičius’s films are minimalistic and radical too. This film belongs to
A collection of eight confessions, hand written and court transcripts, of convicted criminals. It is then reduced to only those sentences where the criminal is talking about his or her own emotions. The perpetrator’s personal landscape of guilt is revealed with no descriptions about the actual criminal act. The most extreme act of violence contains something that we can all recognize in ourselves; the inner psychological patterns of reasoning and justification, remorse and/or the lack of it.
The Art of Poetry Film with Cheryl Gross: “Hold Me, the Walls are Falling”
Hold Me, the Walls are Falling
Poetry by Robert Krut
Directed by Nick Paonessa
Embracing the decrepit Downtown Los Angeles imagery brings a nostalgic tone to Robert Krut’s poem, Hold Me, the Walls are Falling. Like so many other big cities, DTLA is falling into the Condo Cancer syndrome of gentrification. “Hold me, hold me because when we look up this will all be gone”, like so many other places whose charm was sculpted by preceding generations. The formula repeats itself: allowing an area to tumble into seediness, sometimes due to a failing economy. Then it’s rediscovered by artists, chop shops, ninety-nine cent stores, and vagrants. Cheap rents and larger spaces is the reason why these places are so attractive.
The street scene is typical. The “illegals” are the ones who are visible along with people who have time to spare and addictions to feed. They can still find low-wage work in sweatshops that will also fall victim to urban renewal.
It’s just a matter of time before this landscape disappears and is eaten up by large corporations, only to make way for more luxury housing or another Disneyland, where the “hipsters” will live six in a room, because it’s the next “cool” neighborhood to inhabit.
I feel the poem is very much in sync with the imagery. It’s telling us that we can’t stop the inevitable. But for this particular moment in time, the calm before the storm so to speak, we can dwell in its loneliness and enjoy the pause before it moves into its next phase.
